Meet OUR mentors
Elle Simone Scott
Scholarship Mentor
Food-styling guru Elle Simone Scott is a trailblazer who manages to make food both stunning and approachable. She shapes the visual aesthetic for the Cook’s Country brand and her work appears across many media platforms. Elle was recently a judge on America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation, which aired on Amazon Freevee, and is an on-screen test cook for America’s Test Kitchen. Elle is the star of a new show currently in production—Entertaining with Elle showcases her skills as a cook, a teacher, and a stylist and will premiere in 2024. Elle provided food styling and expert advice for Boards: Stylish Spreads for Casual Gatherings (2022), a best-selling, highly regarded Cookbook, as well as her newest release, Food Gifts: 150+ Irresistible Recipes for Crafting Personalized Presents. In addition to her role as an executive editor at America’s Test Kitchen, Elle also uses her platform and her organization SheChef Inc. to advocate, mentor, and inspire other women of color in the food space.
Elle has appeared on Good Morning America, The Food Network, Food Network Magazine, The Cooking Channel, The Katie Couric Show, The Chew, and Bravo’s Chef Roble and Co. Elle has also been the subject of ffeature stories in the Boston Globe, Forbes, and Eater and on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and National Public Radio.
Adrian Lipscombe
Scholarship Mentor
Adrian Lipscombe, a native Texan, is the owner of Uptowne Café.
She opened Uptowne Café restaurant on the Northside of La Crosse, WI to create a catalyst of urban change, and at the same time, she works with the community to help revitalize the area.
Uptowne is a hearth for the community and also a community impact space. It carries an open-door policy and provides a safe haven to everyone in the community.
Adrian’s food focuses on southern cuisines by using local ingredients and working with farmers in the Coulee Regional and Organic Valley area. Being a Southerner and using Midwest ingredients has provided a wonderful synergy of exploring cultures, foraging, and creating innovative dishes. Adrian draws her inspiration and storytelling through experiences from life and African American culinary history to tell the story of African American influence in our food culture today. She combines her experience in Southern food and desserts to bring honest food to the table to feed friends, family, and the community.
