Full Course, the restaurant and development group that helps emerging restaurateurs build and innovate their brands, is pleased to announce the launch of the Full Course Foundation. Guided by the belief that learning is a key to success, the Full Course team decided to turn the company’s Learning Center into a 501(c)(3) at the end of 2022 to democratize the road to success for restaurants and their teams by offering restaurant-specific training to everyone.

“We decided to convert our learning center to a non-profit in order to lower the barrier to entry by making low-cost and free educational resources available to all who are interested in learning more about the industry. Knowledge is critical to professional growth and that begins with sharing the playbook,” says Full Course Foundation Executive Director, Lissa Bowen. “Half of Americans have their first job in restaurants, so we literally teach young people how to work as well as influence how they feel about working. And 90% of restaurant managers started as an entry level employee. Yet there’s a huge training gap in how to lead and manage effectively in this industry. We believe we have an obligation to offer new generations of workers the resources to consider restaurants as a long-term career and not just a temporary job.”  

The Full Course Foundation Learning Center provides high-quality training and coaching plus online educational resources designed to shape, strengthen and fortify the future leaders of the restaurant industry. The foundation’s core belief is that education is key to successful entrepreneurship and growth and should be accessible to everyone in the restaurant industry, from the dish pit to the C-suite.

“Our mission is to cultivate the future of restaurants, one leader at a time, by offering resources at little to no cost, helping to create leaders who will change our industry for the better,” says Bowen.

Full Course Foundation’s resources are meant to engage all industry personnel from hourly employees looking to move into management positions to independent restaurant owners who want to grow their careers to restaurant group CEOs looking to better their businesses.