Bettina Stern

Principal | Co Founder, Chaia Tacos

Washington, D.C.

Bettina Stern is the co-founder of Chaia, a seasonal vegetable taco company that gives customers fresh, flavorful plant-based ingredients. Stern and her business partner Suzanne Simon brought their unique restaurant concept to Washington, DC’s farmers markets, where it instantly created long lines. Within weeks of their debut, Chaia was selected by The Washington Post as one of DC’s top nine "up-and-coming tastemakers."

The company has a triple bottom line mission: people, planet, profit. Stern and Simon, along with their strategic investors, believe that this model has a long reach because today’s consumer wants more than food, they want a dining experience that supports their values. Stern believes that eaters and consumers can improve the situation surrounding food security concerns by making responsible choices.

Stern’s background is as a magazine editor, including at: Conde Nast Publications, Hearst Magazines and The New York Times Custom Publishing. Her first job was working summers in the storefront kitchen of Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa. Stern is a member of the Women Presidents' Organization, Les Dames d’Escoffier, a Slow Food advocate, and a charter member of Union Kitchen’s Food Incubator Program. Bettina was selected to and participated in Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) program in the Spring 2018 National Cohort at Babson College. She is a graduate of Middlebury College with a double major in American Literature/American Studies and Italian.