Leavening Agents: Three Ways to Rise + Get to Know the Bread Bakers Guild of America

October 12 | 5:00 - 6:00pm ET | Via Zoom

In this 20-minute mini-class, Karen Bornarth, Executive Director of the Bread Bakers Guild of America, will take a practical look at the three main types of leavening agents (physical, chemical, and biological) and how each works in baking. We’ll explore when and why you might choose one over another, and how your choice can affect both your workflow and the finished product. 

Ideal for professional or aspiring bakers, this session is designed for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of leavening and make more informed choices in the bakehouse. You’ll leave with practical insights you can apply to your own baking—and a glimpse into the kind of craft-focused education the Guild offers. 

After the session, stick around for a brief introduction to the Bread Bakers Guild of America with the Guild Team. You’ll learn about member benefits and how our education, events, and community support bakers at every stage of their journey. We’ll close with time for questions and conversation. New Guild members welcome!

Speaker: Karen Bornarth

Karen has been a member of the Guild for more than 20 years, and has served as Executive Director since June of 2022.  In her work with the Guild, she supports bakery owners and professional bakers to achieve success in their baking practices and businesses through education, training, and community-building events. Prior to taking the role of ED, she spent 8 years in workforce and small business development with Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit in NYC dedicated to creating economic opportunity for immigrant women and women of color through careers in food.  While at HBK, Karen developed an initiative to improve job quality and business performance in small food businesses, and she oversaw a team to design and deliver a dynamic workforce development program in New York City, growing program outcomes fourfold over a three-year period. She launched her career at Amy’s Bread, one of very few women in production, and worked her way up from packer to supervisor while teaching part-time at the Artisan Baking Center.

The French Culinary Institute provided her the opportunity to focus her passion for teaching; she spent five years as the lead instructor and coordinator of their bread department, improving the curriculum and creating new classes for both professional and amateur students. She also worked for four years at Le Pain Quotidien, where she managed its Bleecker Street demonstration and teaching bakery, and then transitioned to product development, quality control and training on a national level. Through all of her years of experience as a bread baker and educator in New York City’s baking landscape, she brings a passion for education and advocacy for frontline food production workers. She is particularly interested in breaking down the systemic and structural barriers to career and economic advancement for people of color and women in the baking industry, and in cultivating and nurturing the next generation of bakers and bakery owners.

Craft • Culture • Careers • Community