May 14 / 4:00 - 5:00 pm ET

Are you a production baker in search of a new career opportunity?  Or a student looking to understand the professional landscape of baking?  As a part of our free virtual series, Beyond the Bench, the Bread Bakers Guild of America and the Retail Bakers of America are thrilled to give you an opportunity to explore different career paths in the baking industry.  We'll hear from three stars in our industry who all got their start in production baking and have gone to build fulfilling careers in equipment, ingredients and education.

Panelists include:

Dafina Smith - Sales Consultant, Erika Record 

Jason Tucker - Technical Advisor, Puratos

Jesse Jackson III - Baking & Pastry Chef Instructor, The Culinary Institute of America

Jesse Jackson III is a graduate of both Johnson & Wales University and The Culinary Institute of America.  At both schools, he studied Baking & Pastry and graduated with honors.  He has worked in several of the country's best and most esteemed restaurants, and started his own business, Fedora Doughnuts.  He currently works as a Baking & Pastry Chef Instructor at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. In the short 3 ½ years Jesse has been a Pastry Instructor at CIA, he has achieved two notable professional certifications; Certified Master Baker in 2022 and Certified Higher Education Professional in 2021.

Dafina Smith is an Equipment Sales Consultant for Erika Record skilled in identifying solutions tailored to meet client needs and building long-lasting client relationships.  She is is a graduate of the International Culinary Center (Classic Pastry Arts), Essex County College (A.S. in Business Administration) and US Army (MOS 45K Armament Repair).  Dafina is dedicated to staying abreast of industry trends and technologies to provide a high level of expertise and value to clients.  Her commitment to training others how to modify manual processes, properly use their tools, and birth their creative passion in edible form is unwavering.