About Us.
Cureate is a woman-owned, food-tech company dedicated to empowering local communities by creating a sustainable and inclusive supply chain.
Meet the Team
Meet our incredible team of Cureators, connectors, storytellers, and advocates for building more resilient, local supply chains.
Kim Bryden
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Kim is an accomplished business development professional with expertise in strategy, marketing, and operations focusing on the food & beverage industry and economic development. Kim has consulted 400+ small businesses on growth strategy, building out diversified revenue streams, and identifying new market opportunities. In addition to her commitment to small business growth at-large, Kim’s expertise has led her to develop multi-sector, public-private partnerships across industries such as governmental agencies, food tech start-ups, and top Fortune 500 retailers and foodservice operators. Now she leads the growth of Cureate throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Heartland regions, as the business continues to grow nationwide. Kim is the Board Vice President of Ozark Natural Foods Coop, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and a member of the Sandbox Network. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Digital Media Management and Analytics from Georgetown University and a BA in Public Communication & Spanish from American University. Headshots for Kim Bryden linked here.
Chuck Tildon
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As the former Vice President of External Affairs for the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), Chuck served as the key system steward of its Anchor Mission and led Corporate Social Responsibility efforts for the 13 hospital health system. He oversaw Corporate Giving; Environmental Sustainability; Workforce Engagement; and Community Engagement. During his
tenure at UMMS Chuck stewarded more than $22M in grants and investments across the organization’s footprint in the state of Maryland. He also co-led the team that developed UMMS’ first ever environmental sustainability strategic plan. In addition to Cureate, Chuck currently serves as the Chair of the Baltimore Convention and Tourism Board which governs the work of the city’s Destination Marketing Organization, Visit Baltimore. As a lifelong Baltimorean, he believes that the health of our city plays an important role in the health and success of the region and the state.
Stacey Simmons
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Stacey has over a decade of design, communications, UX/UI, and web development experience. She’s worked with a variety of clients including digital marketing agencies, healthcare systems, government agencies, and food & beverage businesses. In addition to 20+ years of experience in the restaurant industry, this makes her a perfect fit for the Cureate team! Stacey loves supporting the local DC community, in which she is both a homeowner and business owner. Stacey has a BFA in Fine Arts with a minor in Art History. Her user-centered design and development approach ensures that products are as functional as they are easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing.
Carson Sweezy
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Carson Sweezy is a Washington, DC Metro Area born and raised community builder and lifelong cook using food as a vehicle for connection and nourishment. After navigating Crohn’s disease and recovering from major surgery, he pivoted from real estate, finished his self-designed degree at William & Mary, and committed to building community through food and entertainment.
Amanda Arafat
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Amanda is a culinary creative & educator, event organizer, and community facilitator whose special passion is advocating for, and creating space for, diverse entrepreneurs & community members. Pre-pandemic, her work experience included a variety of both front and back of house positions in retail and food service. Her creative culinary work began post-pandemic, after she found joy and connection despite the lockdown by sharing homemade brown butter chocolate chip cookies, sprinkled with sea salt, with her neighbors. Once this spark ignited, she knew she had to switch gears and seek work in a kitchen. Amanda’s culinary career has included chef and recipe development positions, owning her own cottage bakery, a Visiting Artist Residency at the Fayetteville Public Library, private chef gigs, co-production manager at a meal-prep startup, baking instructor to teens at the Teen Action Support Center (TASC), as well as chef instructor at Honeycomb Kitchen Shop. In addition to this work, Amanda is the co-founder and active co-organizer of Big Gay Market (est. 2021), Northwest Arkansas’ first and only makers market dedicated to highlighting the local LGBTQIA+ community of artisans and small business owners.
Samii Sterrett
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Samii has had a passion for food for as long as she can remember and knew by the age of 10 that she wanted to become a chef. That passion led her to study culinary arts throughout high school, compete on Arizona’s culinary team, and eventually graduate from Arizona Culinary Institute in 2014.
After graduation, Samii gained experience across a wide range of foodservice environments, from fine dining restaurants to fast-paced quick service operations. Along the way, she developed a strong appreciation for both the culinary and hospitality sides of the industry, particularly the relationships and problem-solving involved in restaurant operations.
Eventually, Samii returned to my roots and launched her own personal chef business, where she combined her love of food, creativity, and client service to create memorable dining experiences.
After relocating from Arizona to Arkansas, Samii had the opportunity to connect with Kim and learn more about Cureate's mission. She immediately connected with the company's commitment to supporting food entrepreneurs and local food systems and was excited to join the team. Today, Samii bring both culinary and operational experience to my role.
Kelly Guglielmino
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Originally from NJ, Kelly has always enjoyed sports and being active. This passion continued through to college where she chose to study nutrition and exercise science. She then worked at local YMCAs and gyms implementing nutrition programs and supervising exercise to help members reach their health and fitness goals. She moved to DC with her husband and pursued other paths, but always stayed enthusiastic about food and nutrition. Her passion coupled with years of experience in administrative roles, led Kelly to Oasis Community Partners where she returned to the realm of food as an executive assistant to the director.
Emmanuel Vicuna
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Emmanuel Vicuna has more than 10 years of experience in administration, data management, and technical support escalations, and he is always able to provide effective solutions and quality of support, which can be considered a consistent indicator of his worth in a dynamic and high-paced environment. He has headed teams and worked on databases of large scale and has simplified operations to make operations more efficient. Having nothing to do with work, Emmanuel loves to play Magic: The Gathering and loves to play strategy games and it helps him to improve his skills in analysis and innovativeness, which supplements his professional knowledge.
Michelle (Micks) Sison
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Michelle, or “Micks”, is a versatile professional with over two decades of diverse experience across human resources, education, and aviation. She brings 5 years of expertise in recruitment, training, and employee engagement, 14 years as a flight attendant ensuring exceptional hospitality management in an international setting, and a year in education as both a teacher assistant and private tutor. Known for her adaptability, cultural competence, and strong interpersonal skills, Micks thrives in roles that require both precision and empathy. She is passionate about building connections, and delivering excellence in every endeavor. One last thing, she is a frustrated baker.
Nic Small
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Nic is an experienced full-stack software developer who has worked on corporate, government, and start-up applications. His most recent projects include a motor-vehicle safety platform, a streaming video service, and a real-estate transaction engine. As a passionate environmentalist, he is particularly interested in how our current food systems impact the world. He volunteers regularly with Food Rescue US, a national organization aiming to solve the problems of food waste and food insecurity at the same time. At Cureate, Nic supports a wide range of programming and software engineering needs.
Walton Smith
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With over five years of experience in marketing, social media, content creation, community building, and engagement, Walton connects people to their needs. She has used her skills and expertise to create and execute strategies that amplify and support diverse voices and causes at companies like The Grio, The Fifteen Percent Pledge, Women Business Collaborative, and We Are Rosie. As the founder of Black Woman Owned, she's built a community and online business listing that showcases and promotes Black woman owned businesses, to increase their visibility to help increase their annual revenue.
Certifications
Women-Owned Business
Cureate proudly achieved certification through Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). This puts us – and therefore our Vendors – on the radar of even more large businesses and institutions looking to source from women-owned businesses.
Certified Business Enterprise (CBE)
The CBE program positions our business to better compete in DC government contracting opportunities. As an example, we co-created alongside the Department of Small and Local Business Development a centralized Toolkit for accessing resources, events and new business opportunities between DC-based small business owners and non-profit service providers.