Angel Veza


Connect with me

Angel Veza

Director, Innovation Initiatives
New York, NY
Capital, Innovation, & Global Initiatives

Angel Veza serves as ReFED's Director of Innovation Initiatives, working to catalyze the adoption of top food waste solutions. She began her career in education, teaching to underserved communities. After working with students for seven years, Angel earned her Grand Diplôme from the French Culinary Institute and went on to join teams at several of New York City’s most renowned restaurants—including Morimoto and the two Michelin-starred Atera—and also worked with foodservice companies such as Compass Group. During that time, she observed the significant amount of food being wasted in the hospitality industry, and pivoted her career to work with the food waste team at World Wildlife Fund. Building on this experience, she worked in supply chain and led strategic sourcing and procurement efforts focused on food waste reduction at Manhattan Restaurant, part of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group in New York City.

Connect with me about

Impact funding; Agri-food tech; Climate tech

Speaking Engagements

Recent Conferences: Pasa Sustainable Agriculture Conference (2025); Multi-Unit Foodservice Equipment Symposium (2025); Grow NY Food & Ag Summit (2024); Consulate General of Belgium in New York (2024); Food Tank Summit at NYC Climate Week (2024); FoodNiche Summit (2024); National Restaurant Association: The Table Summit (2024); VERGE (2023)

Published Works
  • "Designing Packaging to Prevent and Divert Waste,” Sustainable Packaging Coalition (2022)
  • “Scaling Food Recovery and Hunger Relief: Learnings from ReFED’s Nonprofit Food Recovery Accelerator” (2020)
Awards and Honors

Classic Culinary Arts Award, Les Dames d’Escoffier (2015)

Associations

Food Recovery Network, Advisory Board Member; James Beard Foundation, Food Waste Advisory Committee Member

Fun Facts

Favorite Food: Tacos

Food She Struggles the Most Not to Waste: Mint

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