Letter from chad
2024 was a year of doing the hard work that does not show up on a plate but makes every plate possible. We built systems, hired leaders, trained teams and set standards so that when we say we are ready to grow, we mean it.
This year reminded me why we started Café Momentum in the first place. We did not build a restaurant. We built a place where young people are seen, paid, trained and believed in, and then we asked if that idea could hold in more than one city. What 2024 proved is that the answer is “yes” — but only if we build the infrastructure to carry it.
We recruited executive directors in new markets, defined our model's operating principles, launched a national Salesforce database and developed a logic model to measure what matters and hold ourselves to it. We raised funds at the national level and learned where we needed to adjust.
We activated our ambassadors on some of the largest stages in the country and watched their leadership move people in rooms we could never reach without them. And in Atlanta, we hosted pop-ups to do what Café Momentum has always done — train youth and bring a community to the table.
If I had to name the through-line of 2024, it is this: We built a foundation so that the next ten years are not accidental. They are intentional, principled and scalable.
Our tenth year began in 2025, and our charge is clear. Maintain fidelity to what works, unify under one name, grow with discipline and continue to prove that justice-involved youth are not a risk — they are an investment worth making.
Thank you for being in this work with us.
Chad Houser
Founder and CEO, Café Momentum
We laid the groundwork for a unified brand, a reimagined identity and an expansion model that allows more justice-involved youth to be seen, trained and supported across the country. What began as a single restaurant in Dallas has become a national proof of concept that cities and systems now look to for change.
We began sunsetting the Momentum Advisory Collective brand and unifying under Café Momentum to strengthen our identity and speak as one organization. This alignment positioned us for national expansion and a more consistent experience across cities in 2025.
In 2024 we prepared for the launch of Café Momentum Atlanta. We raised early support, established key partnerships and hosted a series of pop-up dinners designed to build visibility and community engagement. The pop-ups also served as a training environment for Atlanta youth ahead of the restaurant opening.
In our most active year yet, ambassadors represented Café Momentum on national stages — from Super Bowl LVIII events in Las Vegas to conferences in New Orleans and Kalamazoo, as well as NFL-hosted convenings in West Palm Beach. They staffed pop-ups, mentored Café Momentum interns across the country and participated in Youth Justice Action Month. The year ended with the graduation of four senior ambassadors and the onboarding of a new cohort.
We established a set of 68 operating principles to ensure that every Café Momentum location delivers the same standard of program, restaurant experience and wrap-around support. This common baseline protects fidelity to the model as we grow and creates a consistent experience for youth, staff, partners and supporters in every city.
We launched the Café Momentum interactive logic model to clearly map how our activities lead to the outcomes we seek to achieve. It gives stakeholders a shared framework to communicate goals, monitor progress and make data-driven decisions to better support interns and justice-impacted youth nationwide.
Highlights and Accomplishments
Café Momentum's mission is to transform young lives by equipping justice-involved youth with life skills, education and employment opportunities to help them achieve their full potential.
We value the innovation and collaboration that happens when we get in the groove as a team.
We value integrity and perseverance as foundations of growth.
We value the opportunity and accountability that comes from belonging to a community.
Café Momentum’s local and national leadership worked closely in 2024 to define and build foundational infrastructure in support of our future growth.
2024 marked our strongest year of growth yet — expanding our reach, deepening our programming and creating more paid workforce opportunities for justice-involved youth than ever before.
People experience Café Momentum by dining in our restaurants, catering and pop-up dinners across the country. Each meal served is an opportunity for guests to experience our mission in action.
Every Café Momentum is designed to support 80 to 100 young people annually through a 12-month curriculum and paid internship that combines culinary training, education support and individual case management.
In addition to paid restaurant work, interns are paid for meaningful learning activities, including financial education, healthy relationship workshops and professional development sessions that prepare them for long-term stability beyond the kitchen.
Improved social-emotional well-being through wraparound services, with 70% of interns voluntarily engaging in therapy
Increased educational attainment, with 93% of interns re-enrolling in accredited programs
Increased job stability, as 80% of alumni earn at least $14 per hour in stable jobs.
90% of alumni had active bank accounts, a critical step toward financial independence
Increased sense of agency as interns gain confidence from training and achieving goals, such as earning their ServSafe Food Handler Certification
Decreased justice system involvement as graduates break free from cycles of incarceration
Before he connected with Café Momentum Dallas, Yudon had given up on graduating from high school. His attendance in school was nonexistent, and he had fallen far behind his peers in education. When Yudon began his internship with Café Momentum, it wasn’t hard to see why: It wasn’t just his home life that presented a multitude of challenges and hardships — he was also in desperate need of glasses.
Yudon learned about Café Momentum from his case manager, a volunteer at our Dallas location. Our program seemed like a great way to bridge the distance between his history with the justice department and his strong desire to gain employment.
Once Yudon got a rhythm going with his work at Café Momentum, which included enrollment in the Café Momentum Academy, he maintained excellent attendance and soon joined a GED program through Dallas College that aligned with his goals. He even maintained a second job at the Dallas Music Hall while pursuing his academic and training efforts with us.
With support from the staff and volunteers at Café Momentum, Yudon opened a bank account and focuses on keeping a minimum balance to ensure his financial well-being. He learned to navigate our Momentum Market and its points system to invest in an electric bicycle that shortens his commute and enables him to depend a bit less on public transit. He learned where to look for resources and how to make the most of everything that’s available to him to become more and more self-sufficient.
Soon, Yudon had completed his probation with no further justice system involvement and started to consider his future career. He began researching apprenticeships and settled on one with a local manufacturer of tools and products for the construction industry after attending a tour of the facility. He’s now living independently and focusing on work.
* Names have been changed to ensure the integrity and safety of our interns’ future in the workforce.
In 2024, interns showed measurable gains — with 70% engaging in therapy, 93% re-enrolling in school, and most earning industry credentials. These numbers make those numbers possible. We're demonstrating momentum where it matters!
Our donors and partners are the driving force behind the support of our interns, the success of our restaurants and the attention we draw to the failures of the juvenile justice system. We are thankful that you've chosen to pull up a chair at the Café Momentum table.
