A native of North Philadelphia, Chef Naima Saleema Rutling, has been working in the food service industry for over 23 years. Naima started working in the food service industry in 1999. In 2004, while working full time and raising a family of five, Naima started her culinary education, as a nontraditional student, at the Art Institute of Philadelphia; she graduated, with honors, in 2006. Currently, she shares her passion of food, as the head Chef Instructor, by teaching students enrolled in the Culinary Arts Program operated through the Cathedral Kitchen, which is located in Camden, New Jersey. Cathedral Kitchen is a program that educates low-income nontraditional students who are seeking careers in the food service industry. Naima’s accomplishments as a chef does not end there. She has successfully operated H.E.R. Catering for almost 10 years, which provide catering service to the tristate area. She has catered for the Philadelphia Black Journalist Gala, for the past 5 years, the Democratic National Convention and the National Liver Foundation just to name a few professional events. In addition, Naima has participated in the largest national food show, Gout Ea Lakay, which is in Haiti. Quoting, Chef Nai, “My passion for serving people is my base so I have to treat it like a trampoline… Once I jump on, it is up to me how high I want to go.”