Founder of BasBaas and model, Hawa Hassan personally embodies the cultural diaspora of her hot sauces. Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, she was fortunate to escape the civil war tearing the nation apart by going with her mother and four siblings to a U.N. refugee camp in Kenya. After a year in the camp, her mother was eventually able to get an apartment and launch a small business. When Hawa turned 7, her mother seized an opportunity to send her to Seattle, Wash, to live with a family friend. It would be 15 years before they saw each other again. In Seattle, Hawa was discovered by a modeling scout and over time built an unlikely career in fashion. Her mother, meanwhile, personifies strength of the human spirit: From Kenya she was able to migrate to Norway, where she opened a furniture outlet and a Somali goods store. When they eventually reunited, the two rediscovered their shared love of cooking. Basbaas hot sauces are truly Somali and genuinely global. Inspired by heirloom recipes, Basbaas is the only authentic, packaged Somali line of hot sauces and chutneys currently available in the United States. Designed to perfectly complement Middle Eastern-inspired spicy chutneys and other ethnic sauces, Basbaas is hand-crafted in small batches, and bottled and sourced in Stuyvesant Falls, Hudson Valley. The products are all-natural, locally sourced, Gluten-free and Vegan. The line is created in Hot Bread Kitchen, a non-profit social enterprise that creates better lives for low-income women and their families. A portion of Basbaas' profits are donated to aspiring immigrant women.

Learn more about BasBaas: basbaassauce.com

Chef Pierre Thiam

Touted as "The King of New African Cuisine", Pierre Thiam(pronounced CHEE-AM) is co-founder of Yolélé Foods, a world-renowned chef, restaurateur and celebrated cookbook author. He was born and raised in Senegal, and came to the US to attend college. Instead, he pursued a career in the restaurant industry, working his way up from busboy to chef. He has opened two of his own restaurants in New York City, and has written two critically acclaimed cookbooks, the most recent of which, Senegal, was a finalist for the James Beard Award in 2016. Pierre has been featured on Iron Chef America, Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, and many other segments on television, radio, and the web. Yolélé is a purpose-driven African food company that is committed to transforming communities in rural West Africa. At Yolélé Foods, Pierre shares West Africa's oldest supergrain, FONIO, with the world to elevate communities across the West African Sahel. Yolélé, a term of exuberance used throughout West and Central Africa, is the rough Fulani language equivalent of "Let the good times roll." By increasing fonio production, sourcing from smallholder farms in West Africa, and offering a new superfood to the world, Yolélé Foods can truly help make the good times roll. Watch Pierre's TED talk on the transformative potential of fonio here. And learn more about him here. Learn more about Yolélé Foods: yolelefoods.com

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