The Bread Bakers Guild of America

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Board of Directors

KOBLA ASAMOAH - Board Chair

Term: 2026-2028

Kobla Asamoah is Senior Director of Accelerator Operations at Caminus Ventures, an accelerator and investment program targeting food, beverage and related businesses. Prior to Caminus, Kobla served as Head of Small Business at Hot Bread Kitchen, a social enterprise based in NYC. There he focused on growing an incubator program committed to supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs in the industries of food and beverage, providing these entrepreneurs with resources meant to aid in their growth ambitions.

EDNA COCHEZ - Board Vice Chair

Term: 2024 - 2026

Edna was Head Baker and R&D for Panama Baking Factory since 2003 in Panama City, Panama. After doing that for 17 years, she was a judge in Top Chef´s Bravo TV cooking show Panama edition 2019. She now has a blog and online baking school on Patreon, and works with international cooking equipment and ingredient brands, such as Miele & Lurpak butter, to develop content for their clients.

SCOTT FRANCE - Treasurer

Term: 2025-2027

Scott is the President and Co-owner of Macrina Bakery in Seattle. Macrina delivers fresh breads and pastries to hundreds of customers in the Puget Sound region 364 days a year. They also have five cafes (soon to be six!) all of which help to further their mission: To enrich our communities through the joy of artisan baking. Leslie Mackie, their founder, was a Guild board member from 2010 to 2016 and Scott is happy to continue this legacy of service. Prior to Macrina, Scott was CFO at Pagliacci Pizza, their sister company. Outside of work, Scott spends most of his time with his wife Renée and their teenage children, Maddy and Ryan. They love hiking, biking, playing soccer, traveling, watching movies and eating great bread!

KRISTINE BOROK - Board Member

Term: 2025-2027

Kristine Borok is an experienced non-profit leader with expertise in development, storytelling, and organizational strategy. She has an added background in the culinary industry as a trained professional chef with experience working in a variety of roles including pastry chef, baker and culinary instructor. She currently works as Chief Operating Officer for Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit that creates economic mobility for individuals impacted by gender, racial, social, and/or economic inequality in New York City, using the vibrant potential of the food industry as a pathway forward.

KAT FLYNN- Board Member

Term: 2026-2028

Kat trained for three years with King Arthur Baking Company’s bread team. Her experience includes artisan breads, laminated pastry, and woodfired pizza. Kat's background in sustainable agriculture gives her a field-to-loaf perspective that she uses to educate and empower others.

APOLLONIA POILANE - Board Member

Term: 2026-2028

Apollonia is baker and CEO for Poilâne, an internationally-acclaimed, family-run bakery founded in Paris in 1932. She began apprenticing in the bakery at the age of 16, and took over its operation at age 18, when her parents were killed in an accident. Apollonia now oversees 160 employees at five locations across France and London. She wrote a cookbook, released in 2020, for skilled and novice bakers called Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery. Through all of her work, Apollonia has maintained the traditions and spirit of Poilâne bakers who came before her while putting her own modern stamp on the bakery.

ASHWIN RAO- Board Member

Term: 2026-2028

Ashwin is a a professional pastry chef and owner of Handcrafted Pastry, a cottage bakery offering European-style breads and pastries. After more than 30 years as a technology executive, he earned a Diploma in Professional Pastry Arts from the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. He also mentor food entrepreneurs through SCORE and enjoy building community through artisan baking.

LAURIE SCHIVE - Board Chair

LAURIE SCHIVE - Board Member

Term: 2025 - 2027

During a 20-year career with the Federal Government and a stint as a cybersecurity and risk consultant, Laurie taught herself to bake bread as a way to destress and learn how to recreate traditional baked goods in the many countries she visited. After “retiring” and resettling in New Hampshire, Laurie joined the Guild to improve her bread baking skills and connect with fellow artisan bakers, with a dream of opening up her own bakery. In 2018, the dream came true with the opening of the Blue Loon Bakery near Lake Sunapee, with a mission to bring freshly-baked breads and pastries to the local community.