Chef Mawa McQueen is the proud owner and executive chef of multiple restaurants in Aspen and Snowmass Village, CO, Mawa’s Kitchen, Mawita, and The Crepe Shack (two locations). Her life experiences growing up on the Ivory Coast and in Europe were the foundation that ignited her passion for bringing food and comfort to people from all walks of life. She has been recognized for both her skills as a chef and entrepreneur and awarded the Colorado Governor’s Minority Business Award in 2020 and 2022. In 2022, Mawa’s talent and hard work was recognized nationally and internationally by the James Beard Foundation when she was nominated as a semifinalist for the James Beard Award Best Chef West. Then again in 2023 when Mawa’s Kitchen received the honor of becoming a MICHELIN Guide recommended restaurant in Colorado’s inaugural edition. Dedicated to inspiring everyone with her food and her story, Mawa launched her first cookbook, Mawa’s Way, which is not only a collection of fan favorite recipes from Mawa’s Kitchen but also a story of grit and perseverance to achieve one’s dreams. In 2024, she wrote and published her first motivational book, Unstoppable Ambition, in both French and English to share more of her fascinating story and the transformative power of perseverance, ambition, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Along with her restaurants and highly successful catering business, Mawa is also the prominent owner of a granola company where she produces her own variation of granola. Mawa’s GrainFreeNola is a delicious gluten-free, protein-rich, and vegan granola. It is made with the highest quality organic nuts and seeds and sweetened with Medjool dates. More than just an executive chef, entrepreneur and savvy businesswomen, Chef Mawa’s impact goes beyond the kitchen as she makes time to give back to her communities. She is an alumna of the James Beard Foundation Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program and currently serves on the Isaacson School Executive Advisory Board, the Colorado Restaurant Foundation board, the Ment’or Culinary Council and the Sylvia Center Culinary Council. She continues to advocate for Africa and its people and serves on the board for Brake The Cycle, which she helped raise over $20,000 to build a well to provide an entire village in Zambia with access to clean water, and is an Ambassador for Action in Africa, a nonprofit that promotes community development and increasing the accessibility, affordability and quality of education in Uganda for both kids and adults.