Our Story

Kindred Bakery BK is more than a bakery—it’s a movement. Rooted in Flatbush, Brooklyn, we use the art of baking to create opportunities for people who have historically been excluded from traditional skill building pathways. Through hands-on training in professional kitchens, our program equips participants with practical skills, social-emotional learning (SEL), and STEAM-based education, preparing them for meaningful opportunities and deeper community engagement.

The Founders

Kindred was founded by Qiana Daniels, a veteran teacher, and Nigel Thompson, a retired police officer turned artisan baker. As parents of an Autistic young man , they saw firsthand how many young adults struggle to find support and opportunities after high school, especially those from intersecting marginalized backgrounds. Determined to change this, they built Kindred as a space where learning is inclusive, skill-driven, and designed to lead to real opportunities.

Founder

Nigel Thompson

Nigel retired as an Aircraft Rescue Fire-Fighter/Police Officer after a 21 year career. He received his Master's in Education Leadership Management and Policy from Seton Hall University, and was a NYC public school teacher for 2 years. He is also trained as a mediator and is an Ambassador for the New York Peace Institute.

Nigel’s value for community and service led him to retire early in order to establish Kindred Bakery where he grew up in Flatbush Brooklyn. Nigel is a prolific home cook and is currently studying at the Institute of Culinary Education to further enhance his culinary skills.

Founder

Qiana Daniels

Qiana is a NYC public school teacher with a Master’s Degree in Literacy from Bank Street College of Education and in School Building Leadership from Mercy College. Qiana is a skilled home-baker with a strong focus in gluten free baked goods. She has a strong commitment to social justice and believes that everyone deserves access to affordable, fresh and healthy food.

OUR INSTRUCTORS

Our instructors are highly trained industry professionals with deep expertise in baking, pastry, and culinary arts. Beyond the kitchen, they bring diverse backgrounds—from accounting to curriculum development to structural engineering—that complement their work with our participants. Students not only gain technical skills but build meaningful relationships with passionate, accessible mentors. We also welcome esteemed guest chefs from across the world, bringing diverse perspectives, culturally relevant recipes, and specialized techniques to our program.

Cole Sotnick

Cole recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is immensely passionate about the culinary arts. He has been using his skills to feed friends and family from a young age and worked in various restaurants growing up. Cole holds a certificate from the Institute of Culinary Education in bread baking and has gained experience working as a pastry baker at Balthazar in NYC.

Louis Lhermitte

Born in Atlanta and raised in France, Louis increased his versatility by being taught to make baguettes and croissants by a renown New York City chef, a unique dynamic which still puts a smile on his face to this day. A passionate home cook and baker, Louis enjoys sharing and teaching his skills as much as he enjoys eating the results. With an engineering degree from MIT and a bread baking certificate from the institute of Culinary Education, Louis is particularly proud of the perfectly light and delicious structures of his breads and pastries.

Mira Ruth Rubens

Mira Ruth Rubens taught for over 20 years at NYC public elementary schools. Her favorite subjects were science and math and she always incorporated nature and cooking lessons into her classes of Pre-K to 5th Grade students. Mira has also previously worked as a professional cook and baker, running her own catering company, Cooks-on-Call, for 10 years, serving everything from box lunches for 250 at the New York Public Library, to private weddings at homes on Long Island. Mira is delighted to volunteer at Kindred, teaching skills she has enjoyed throughout her life to a new generation of eager students.

Iliana Correa

Iliana is a home baker who is not only in love with Artisan Bread but also with pastries that highlight tropical fruits and Caribbean sweets flavors. She is an enthusiast of collaboration and community building with a background in Human Resources and recruiting operations. Recently, Iliana completed a course from the Institute of Culinary Education in The Techniques of Artisan Bread Baking and is thrilled to share her skills and knowledge in a shared learning space at Kindred.

Artie Niederhoffer

Artie Niederhoffer is a writer and educator with a passion for bread, working with Kindred on program development and kitchen support. Her love for language and education led her to roles in publishing and teaching English in Japan and NYC's immigrant communities. After following her passion for baking to the Institute of Culinary Education and a stint at Balthazar Bakery, she joined the Kindred team, where she gets to bake with a purpose.

The Board

Stanley Harmon

Stanley Harmon is a seasoned accountant and auditor with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has an MBA from Pace University and Masters of Science in Information technology from New York University.

Stanley is currently the owner of Everton & Associates, LLC, a boutique accounting and consulting firm. He is also a former general auditor and compliance officer at Carver Federal Savings Bank. Stanley has a strong understanding of accounting, auditing, compliance, and management.

For over 30 years Stanley has volunteered his time as a mentor and Director/Coach for non-profit soccer in Flatbush Brooklyn.

Kimberly McCoy

Kimberly is an attorney, special educator, and parent of a child with autism. She brings over 10 years of experience in special education, ranging from early childhood evaluator to community based and District 75 school teacher. She attended City College for her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Special Education and earned her J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Lana Parker

Dr. Lana Parker is a New York State licensed psychologist working in private-practice with a specialty in neuropsychological assessment and a long history of working with youth and families. She joins the Kindred team after spending time in numerous independent and public schools providing social-emotional support to students through consultation, teacher-training and crisis intervention. Lana also has experience working in the developmental evaluation clinic and intensive crisis stabilization and treatment programs at Kings County Hospital Center. She provided community-based support working with the New York- Presbyterian Medical Center’s School-Based Mental Health Clinic. She believes that working with children and families within their own environment and building on existing areas of strength is the best way to promote positive growth.

In her free time, Lana enjoys travel, baking, entertaining and spending time with her family.

Keisha V. Thompson

Dr. Keisha V. Thompson is a Professor of Psychology at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York, and the co-creator and director of the Historically Underrepresented Faculty & Staff Resource Center at Kingsborough.

Originally from Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Thompson grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Texas A&M University, a bachelor's degree in Business Communication from Baruch College, CUNY, and a master's degree in School Counseling from Hunter College, CUNY. Her clinical experience spans diverse settings, including college counseling, community mental health, federal prison, VA medical centers, and K-12 schools.

Nan Liu

Dr. Nannan Liu is a senior healthcare leader with over 14 years of leadership and clinical supervision experience in academic hospital and community mental health settings. Dr. Liu provides administrative and clinical supervision to the First Episode Psychosis Coordinated Specialty Care treatment team members and trainees at Columbia Psychiatry/New York State Psychiatric Institute. Prior to her position at Columbia Psychiatry/NYSPI, Dr. Liu supervised large clinical teams at the New York State Office of Mental Health's community mental health clinics. Dr. Liu has clinical expertise in treating diagnostically complex patient populations, particularly patients experiencing first-episode psychosis in schizophrenia with co-morbidities. Dr. Liu has been invited to speak at state, national, and international conferences, about evidence-based, person-centered, and recovery-oriented approach to treating psychiatric disorders. Dr. Liu was President of the American Counseling Association of New York during the COVID-19 pandemic (President-Elect 2018-2019, President 2019-2020, Past President 2020-2021). Dr. Liu provided leadership and guidance to New York State's school and clinical counseling professionals during this unprecedented time, to ensure counseling services are continued and delivered in New York State, particularly to the most underserved and marginalized communities.

Kamilah O'Brien

Kamilah O'Brien is a Nonprofit Finance and Operations professional with a Masters in Public Administration from New York State University and a Bachelors in Public Relations from Boston University. She has worked in the Charter School industry for almost 15 years working in accounting and operations. Kamilah runs the personal finance YouTube channel Focused Spender and is the author of Little Focused Spender, helping adults begin money conversations with the children in their lives. Kamilah is a native New Yorker, with Caribbean roots and is passionate about helping people create generational wealth.

Advisory Board

Advisor

Chris Paul

Christopher Paul is a performance-driven, strategic, and process-focused Culinary & Food Service Management Executive, showcasing international exposure to provide thought leadership and innovative perspective to capture the highest potential of organization resources.

He offers 17+ years of transferable experience in delivering best-in-class consultation and advisory services to various food-service organizations across the community using in-depth insights regarding food compliance requirements as well as delivering specialty catering services, involving farm to table, contemporary American, Peruvian & Cantonese fusion, Tex-Mex, French, and Caribbean cuisines. He leads innovative business concepts as a seasoned entrepreneur, securing 6+ licenses and permits across Philadelphia, Maryland, and New York, involving health and hygiene while directing and steering end-to-end operations for (5) start-up businesses.

Advisor

Tom Chapel

Thomas (Tom) Chapel, MA, MBA was CDC’s first Chief Evaluation Officer from 2011 until his (semi) retirement in 2020. But even earlier, he was helping CDC programs and partners do better evaluation, performance measurement, and strategic planning from various perches within CDC’s Office of the Director from 2001 on, and as Vice President at Macro International (now ICF) since the late 1980s. Tom has been involved in planning, performance measurement, and evaluation issues at the national level as well. A popular keynote speaker, facilitator, and trainer nationally, Tom was a Board member of the American Evaluation Association, where he also won the Myrdal Government Evaluation Award in 2013. In retirement, Tom continues his evaluation and planning work as a guest researcher at CDC, a Fellow at the CDC Foundation, and as a prob-bono consultant for dozens of nonprofit organizations. He holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and MA and MBA degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Advisor

Mark Alter

Alter is a Professor of Educational Psychology at New York University and was the founding chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning and served as Chair for 14 years. . He has an extensive record of publications , national and international workshops and funded grants in the field of special education. He was granted A Fulbright Senior Specialist award to Viet Nam and was awarded The NYU Distinguished Teaching award. Alter has experience as an assistant teacher and teacher with students with severe and profound disabilities , as well as a PhD from Yeshiva University in special education. He has an international presence , most recently in Romania, Crete , Brazil & Argentina discussing special education, teacher education and early childhood education.

Culinary Support Team

Instructor

Sherilyn Thomas

Sherilyn is the owner and operator of Cozitreats Baked Goods. She is a chef, recipe developer and consultant with over 25 years of experience transforming American and French baked goods and pastries into something special.

She believes that baking is a creative way of expressing love to friends and family, and is passionate about using nutritious ingredients in her baked goods. Accessibility is also important to Sheri; the whole grains, fruits, and vegetables used in her baked goods can be easily found at the local grocery store and supermarket.

Instructor

Cheyenne Busch

Cheyenne is a home baker with a background in psychology, who is passionate about building camaraderie through shared experiences. Cheyenne believes that the kitchen environment is conducive to developing teamwork and social skills, and is excited to bring this philosophy to Kindred Bakery.

With a history of working in restaurants and experience training others, Cheyenne is looking to use her knowledge to help further Kindred’s mission to create a space where people can come together to learn through the art of baking.

Instructor and Marketing Support

Sarah Bourlakas

Sarah Bourlakas is a Brooklyn-based brand strategist and at-home baker with a passion for building inclusive communities.

Volunteer

Niv Patel

Niv Patel is a software engineer for the past 5 years. A graduate of Mangrove CBA, she recently launched Hippie Circus, a kombucha business and seeks to use her skills and interest in tech, food, etc. to create positive change. She is excited to support Kindred with all things website related and beyond.