Andrea Herrera ’85, 2015 Leadership and Service Award

Andrea Herrera, dauntless entrepreneur, president and founder of Amazing Edibles Gourmet Catering, and longtime Cornell alumni leader and volunteer, we recognize you today with the Leadership and Service Award.

You founded your Chicago catering business, Amazing Edibles, in 1994. The company specializes in corporate, social, and educational markets, including fortune 500 companies, the City of Chicago, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions—and the Cornell College Club of Chicago. In order to expand your business, you joined an accelerator program in 2006, and the following year took a risk to finance a 5,000-square-foot commercial kitchen. Amazing Edibles crossed the $1 million mark in annual revenue in 2009. Since then you have been featured in CNN Money, MSNBC, USA Today’s Hispanic Living Magazine, and a Cornellian favorite—the food issue of the Cornell Report.

As a Cornell student you were a resident assistant and involved in Kippers, PAAC, and Theatre Council. Your advisor, Professor Stephen Lacey, had a profound effect on you. You took most of the classes he offered, and wrote this in a tribute upon his passing in 2000: “Stephen made me feel special, important. I remember crying to him that I wanted to drop Shakespeare play. He refused to let me drop, he gave me a drink, an extension on my paper, and the play went on—and it was a marvelous experience.”

Andrea, you have repeatedly given back to Cornell. You were president of the Cornell College Club of Chicago, served on the Alumni Board from 2006 to 2013, and you continue to host Cornell students at your business. Your Cornell experience has now come full circle: Your son Jake is a member of the Cornell Class of 2018.

Andrea, on behalf of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and the entire Cornell community, we honor your exemplary career and commitment to Cornell College with the Leadership and Service Award.