Chef Thérèse Nelson’s culinary career began in 2004 after graduating summa cum laude from Johnson and Wales University, with degrees in Food Service Management and Culinary Arts. Her training spanned throughout the East Coast, where she worked her way through the kitchens of major hotel groups such as the Hilton, Marriott, Orient Express, and Four Seasons. In 2006, she joined the all-female team of The Get Em' Girl Inc., using her culinary expertise as a recipe consultant for the company's two branded cookbooks, The Get Em' Girl's Guide to the Power of Cuisine and The Get Em Girl's Guide to the Perfect Get Together. She was the food editor for the brand's lifestyle website and the executive chef for the company's in-house boutique catering company.

Her food graced the tables of global brands such as Black Enterprise, Carol's Daughter, BET, MTV, WEEN, Verizon, and RocNation. In 2014 the company dissolved and Thérèse pivoted to the private sector, working as a chef for select clients, writing for publications such as First We Feast, and consulting for catering and restaurant businesses throughout the Tri-State area.

In addition to her culinary life, Thérèse is the founder and culinary curator of Black Culinary History, founded in 2008 as a way to connect Black chefs, preserve Black heritage throughout the African diaspora, promote and share the work of Black food and beverage professionals, and maintain the legacy being constructed by Black chefs for the next generation.

Thérèse is a member of Eta Sigma Delta, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, Southern Foodways Alliance, Equity At The Table, International Association of Culinary Professionals, National Association of Professional Women, and the Culinary Historians of New York. She’s worked with AFROPUNK and has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Huffington Post. She is a board member of the Museum of Food and Drink and was one of the first chefs-in-residence for TASTE Cooking. Thérèse is a proud native of Newark, NJ and currently resides in East Harlem, NY where she enjoys being a part of the community's rich and diverse culinary landscape, personally and professionally.