Founding Mother

Photo by Theodore Samuels

She’s definitely “not your typical pie caretaker.”

Meet the brain behind the pies, Tiffany-Anne Parkes, whose passion for food, creativity, and culture fuels her practice of fusing African, Caribbean, and European cuisine that reflects the global Black culinary experience. As a born JAMerican (Jamaican-American) who spent childhood Summers in Jamaica and grew up in South Florida, Tiffany-Anne Parkes pours her hodgepodge of cultural experiences into flaky, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shells of European pastry that represent the culture that has housed her, America. 

Born into a family of independent and intelligent yet traditional Jamaican women, Tiffany learned at a very young age that women - while capable of being and even designed to be makers, shifters, and nurturers of community - are constantly hard-pressed, challenged and limited in these pursuits; women too often allow tradition to trump autonomy. When Tiffany-Anne was a little girl, her mother who was told by her mother always said, "Gyal pickney, yuh mus always av yuh own ting. Educate yuhself so yuh nuh haffi depend pon no man." Tiffany's father echoed these teachings. As a woman, Tiffany has heeded and amended her parents' advice: Males and females must be raised with equitable knowledge. As little girls must be sure to educate themselves, we - as their educators - must be sure that they are learning the same lessons as boys and the inverse is also true: Boys need to be "Chef Curry with the pot" too! It is this wisdom and this awareness that has driven her to develop Pienanny, a space where the most essential elements of culture - food, education, and community - work in tandem to promote cultural preservation and social change. Check out the "waves" of our mission below!