West End House

Lisa Smith is the Senior Director of Food and Nutrition at West End House, where she has spent over 20 years transforming the kitchen into a space of creativity, learning, and community. She leads daily scratch-cooked meals, hands-on cooking classes for youth ages 7–18, and programs that make healthy eating fun, empowering, and accessible. Lisa introduced scratch cooking to WEH and has built a range of food and nutrition programs that help young people explore flavor, culture, and confidence through food.

In collaboration with her team, she launched the Food for Families program during COVID to ensure kids and their households had access to nutritious meals. What began as an urgent response has grown into a twice-monthly program and is now a core part of WEH’s mission, serving over 230 families. She is currently preparing to launch a large-scale hydroponic farm in January 2026, bringing fresh greens and herbs to the program while giving youth hands-on experience in growing food and understanding sustainability.

Lisa studied Nutrition at Rutgers University and trained at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. She believes every young person deserves meals that fuel their body, spark joy, and broaden horizons.

Outside the kitchen, Lisa swims whenever she can (including cold plunges), loves making pies, and hopes to be a dog mom soon. She prefers to be barefoot whenever possible and enjoys reading, playing games with family and friends, and entertaining with her husband, whom she met in culinary school.