Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Coach/Chef Danna was raised in a home where the food was as great as the atmosphere of good southern cooks. Danna’s great-grandmother was the neighborhood cook and her mother was an incredible cook who undoubtedly helped cultivate her interest in the kitchen. After working in the Education field for over twenty years as a school teacher and basketball coach she decided to answer her heart’s call and began a youth center to help at-risk youth learn to become entrepreneurs and break the juvenile prison -to- pipeline cycle. In 2012, she and her twin sister Donna partnered to officially launch New Orleans Finest Foods that started catering small events and hosting festivals on the Mississippi Gulf coast. It was than Coach/Chef Danna decided to share those skills with youth that were at risk in the community. (TBOY) Taking Back Our Youth is a non- profit organization where most of the cooking, teaching, and catering takes place. In 2019, she was selected by the City of New Orleans to host a Summer Success program “Cooking with Coach” to teach entrepreneurial/ soft skills, it was than she saw the urge to bring this program to full-force in 2023. The knowledge from that experience helped to start her own catering business “Cook and Cater with Coach” which has been an honored to be chosen as one of the best youth programs in the community by the City of New Orleans Youth & Families. Danna believes her work ethic is the ultimate goal for serving youth through her innovative culinary, teaching, and mentoring skills. She believes that children are our greatest assets you must love THEM, teach THEM, nurture THEM, believe in THEM, prepare THEM, and protect THEM so one day they will be prepared to protect us.