- Lavanya Mahate launched RISE Culinary Institute last year to support immigrant and refugee women now living in Utah.
- The nonprofit organization offers free three-month culinary classes meant to train and empower participants.
- Mahate, who helped launch a successful chain of Salt Lake-area Indian restaurants, says she could use donations and volunteers to expand the organization.
SALT LAKE CITY — Lavanya Mahate is on a mission after having come from a patriarchal society and being familiar with the challenges that immigrant and refugee women face upon coming to the United States.
“I want to give back to women who are immigrants, who are new, who are refugees,” she said. “I feel like there’s such untapped potential in that segment.”
To that end, she formed RISE Culinary Institute last year to give back after nearly 15 years running a string of successful Indian restaurants in the Salt Lake area, Saffron Valley. So far, the nonprofit organization has helped around 40 women from an array of countries — Ukraine, Colombia, Sudan, Afghanistan and more — and she plans to keep it up…