While Adrian Lipscombe studied to earn her Ph.D. in community and regional planning at UT, the city of Austin reached out to her and offered her a job to help establish the bike share program. As a chef and former UT graduate student, Lipscombe has since created the 40 Acres Project to purchase Black-owned farms and land to preserve stories through food and farming, which helped her become a Biden Administration culinary diplomat.
The Diplomatic Culinary Partnership uses food and dining to foster cultural exchanges with foreign dignitaries, according to its website.
The Daily Texan sat down with Lipscombe to discuss the recent announcement naming her an agriculture 2026-2027 Obama Foundation USA Leader, a leadership program that aims to foster empowerment through connection and help solve complex problems.
The Daily Texan: What kind of impact do you hope to make through this program?
Adrian Lipscombe: I’m coming as a chef, and I hope it opens the perspective for other chefs that are interested in leadership positions, or (inspires them) to take a stand or a mission in making our world a better place, an opportunity to apply. … Personally, I’m hoping that what I learned through this program will help me in a trajectory to move what my mission is forward, and also to inspire other people.
DT: How has your experience as a chef shaped you as a leader?
AL: We create third spaces for people to go between home and work. We create relationships. We create regulars coming into our restaurants. One day, I may have five people I talk to, and (another) I may have 500 people that walk through the door. As a chef, is there an opportunity for me to say something in my mission and work to those people? Is there a sentence I can say that would make people think about climate change or farmers or food policy for the better, for our community? I feel a little bit that it is my responsibility. When you think about (it), I’m probably one of the last people to touch the plate before it hits your table. I get to look at this food, from when it comes from the farm, to manipulate it, to hit the table. I’m the one who figures out (what) makes you love or hate a vegetable. These are opportunities for us to really talk about different varieties of heirlooms and to show our community new vegetables and ingredients that they can use to talk about storytelling and culture of different cultures and food.
DT: For those people who really do want to become those world-changing leaders, what advice do you have for them?
AL: I’d tell you to reach out to those leaders. We are human. We understand that we only have a limited time here on Earth, and what the changes that we may be doing, we may never see, (so) we need people to pick up the baton and move forward. If there is a change, or if there is a leader that has affected your work, or you’re inspired by, I say reach out to them, talk to them. You may discover (that) you may have a charge, or you may find a gap in the work that they’re doing that you’re able to take charge in and move forward.
