Pam Fanjoy

Pam is an award-winning Chef, Chopped Canada Champion and Clinical Social Worker and Founder of Fan/Joy, a culinary social enterprise that is cooking up change that lasts a lifetime. Using food to provide life skills training, mental health and educational programs, Fan/Joy is committed to eliminating social isolation, poverty and food insecurity across all life stages. Fan/Joy is fulfilling their mission with the launch of their new, revolutionary Culinary, Counselling & Training Center where Pam’s innovative culinary therapy model is feeding connection with their Junior Chef Life Skills Programs. Particularly well suited for youth who might not otherwise think to go into counselling, Fan/Joy brings youth into the kitchen whisking up delicious recipes that help them solve complex life problems by developing critical life skills such as effective communication, cooperation, and collaboration through education and mentorship. For ‚Äòtransitional aged youth,’ Fan/Joy also believes in the strong foundation necessary to support parents so that they can be the core, compassionate, vital resource for their teens that they want to be as they prepare them for greater independence. Pam envisions a world where individuals feed connection to reach their full potential to live more healthy and joyful lives, sustainably and thus she is revolutionizing how mental health services are delivered to high-risk youth. Fan/Joy’s programs allow teens to develop fundamental pre-employment skills, improve their problem-solving, and build healthier relationships that will ultimately improve their physical and mental health through this engaging and delicious alternative to traditional ‘talk therapies.’ Pam’s own personal mission to foster joyful, healthy relationships by using food to facilitate meaningful connection between others to nourish their bodies, minds, and souls has led to the development of an integrative business model that delivers practical education and therapy and all the while destigmatizing mental health services, lowering the risk of homelessness, and poverty from unemployment. Pam has also developed a circular food economy within the organization and created a social impact fund that will use a percentage of its profits from sales to fund youth who cannot otherwise afford to attend the Junior Chef Fundamentals courses. Pam founded Fan/Joy in 2012 while attending culinary school for fun, running her full-time private practice and founding Chestnut Collaborative Solutions, an interdisciplinary collaborative law center serving families undergoing separation and divorce. Pam is a proud member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce for LGBTQ business owners and a recently announced SheEO Canadian Venture for 2021/2022. She holds a Masters in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Culinary Management Degree from George Brown College.