Ben Smith (Founder)
A former resident of Desire Housing Development in New Orleans, Ben Smith graduated from George Washington Carver Senior High School in 1970 and finished his certificate of Technical Studies at Delgado Community College in 1974. Through Delgado, Ben participated in an apprenticeship program at Local 37m International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, a local ironworkers union. After returning home after incarceration, Ben had an extremely hard time finding employment because of his conviction. In 2006, he founded Da Grill Mobile Catering Service. After years of personally experiencing the challenge of employment after release, Ben only hires and employs formerly incarcerated people.