Shakirah Simley is the Community Programs Manager and Canner-in-Residence for Bi-Rite Markets in San Francisco, where she wears a number of hats including: developing jams and preserves for its PUBLIC Label line, cooking instructor at 18 Reasons (its educational arm) and community manager in charge of giving and community outreach, with a penchant for programs that support youth empowerment and increase access to healthy food. Before Bi-Rite, Shakirah attended the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy on a Fulbright scholarship, where she received her Master's degree and studied under Italian canners. She has previously worked on nutrition and recreational equity policy issues, on youth organizing campaigns, and owned her own small-artisanal jam business, Slow Jams run out of La Cocina. In 2013, she was named one of Zagat's "30 under 30: SF Bay Area Up and Comers. She loves teaching the magic of food in jars and is a certified Master Food Preserver though the UC San Mateo/San Francisco County Extension.
