Saqib Keval and Norma Listman are the renowned chef-owners of the Masala y Maiz Group, an activist project in Mexico City that explores the migration of people, culinary techniques, political movements, and ingredients between South Asia, East Africa, and Mexico. The food is a mestizaje- an organic blending of cultures over generations often in response to colonization & displacement. Masala y Maiz opened in 2017 and is a reflection of Keval and Listman’s belief that food can be used as a powerful tool in the struggle for justice and that chefs have the responsibility to advocate and work towards bettering labor conditions for everyone in the food industry. The Masala y Maiz group includes a nonprofit foundation championing worker’s rights, a chef and artist residency program, a cooperative natural wine project, and the award-winning restaurants Masala y Maiz and Mari Gold.

Together, Keval and Listman are community organizers whose work is focused on imagining and supporting new food systems focused on social justice movement building, political education, and accessible community dining. Before co-founding Masala y Maiz, Keval spent three years with People’s Grocery, a groundbreaking food justice organization in Oakland, developing and managing their social enterprise incubator program and food justice fellowship.