Founder Vermilion restaurant and Let’s Talk Womxn, former World Bank economist & McKinsey & Co. management consultant, Rohini Dey, Ph.D. is a leading restaurateur and zealous champion of women. Rohini went entrepreneurial in 2003 to spread the gospel of Indian cuisine and rescue it from stereotypical “ethnic” confines. Her unique Indian-Latin and Indian-Chinese melding won Vermilion “Best Restaurants” by Chicago magazine, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country, USA Today, Bon Appetit, Wine Enthusiast, 3 Stars Chicago Tribune, Esquire. Vermilion’s chefs have competed and judge on Chopped, Iron Chef, Top Chef. Rohini frequently judges Food Network shows and has been profiled by CNBC, Financial Times, Time for her entrepreneurial journey. Rohini is known for her non-conforming opinions and unconventional candor. To eradicate the “gastro-ceiling,” Rohini founded Let’s Talk Womxn in 2020 and leads this growing action movement of 900+ women restaurateurs across 15 cities to build scale collaboratively. She cofounded the James Beard Foundation Women’s Leadership Program which she led for a decade as a trustee. Rohini has written 30+ Op-Eds for Crain’s, Chicago Tribune, CNN, Miami Herald, HuffPo and others. Rohini is a sought speaker and has keynoted for Politico, the NATO summit, Dept. of State Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Sysco, Toast, Mondelez, National Restaurant Show, TEDx. Rohini is lauded as the 50 Most Powerful Forces in Food (NRN), Top 50 Power Players in Chicago (CS), and Chicago’s 10 Power Women (Better, TimeOut) with multiple awards for her change-making impact. Rohini has two daughters, is an avid reader, loves dark movies, is a policy wonk, still loves to dine out, thrives on travel, runs daily (Chicago Marathon, Half Ironman), is an amateur chess and squash enthusiast, and has accomplished a personal dream - climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.