Crissy Faison Uses the Power of Food to Impact the Community
The love of food is a conversation that speaks to everyone in different ways. Crissy Faison ‘06, owner of LeanBack Soul Food is a witness that food transcends across generations and empowers communities to prosper.
A Chicago Heights, Illinois native, Faison knew immediately she wanted to attend North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University when she traveled to North Carolina for a church convention. She encountered her cousin who spoke highly of the university when she shared with him her goal of attending an historically black college and university (HBCU).
“I always knew I wanted to go somewhere far away from home and once I enrolled in North Carolina A&T I just knew I was going to be on my own to discover this new place,” said Faison. “Within seven months of being in college, my mother decided to move down to North Carolina, which caused a chain reaction of family members moving to the state.”
Faison graduated in 2006 from A&T with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications with a concentration in public relations. However, after graduation, she found it hard to find a career in her major and worked at call center jobs in Greensboro, N.C.
“I was living paycheck to paycheck, and I was just existing and not living in my purpose,” said Faison. “I initially decided to pursue a degree in culinary arts at Guilford Technical Community College and I soon changed my major to business because I realized I didn’t need someone to teach me how to cook.”
In 2016, Faison started her catering company, LeanBack Soul Food to kick start her entrepreneurial journey. In 2018, she went looking for a commercial kitchen to house her catering business, LeanBack Soul Food. She eventually found her way to Winston-Salem, N.C. and utilized the resources of a shared-used kitchen.
“During this time, I was catering part-time and still working a full-time job. I became a full-time entrepreneur in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the president of the Carolina Christian College tasted one of my meatballs and offered me a contract catering food for their students,” said Faison.
With the success of Faison’s catering business, she realized there was a need in the community of Winston-Salem pertaining to food insecurity. In 2021, she founded a nonprofit, LeanBack GiveBack Foundation and implemented a Thanksgiving GiveBack initiative.
“People love seasoned food and I wanted to make sure during the holidays the community would have an opportunity to have a good meal for Thanksgiving,” she said. “On average, I am serving over 200 people each year with this initiative.”
In 2023, Faison launched an outside community refrigerator initiative, the GiveBack Fridge Project, that allows people to have access to catered food that is packaged up and dated. The current program has four refrigerators housed in various locations in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“15.5 percent of the population of Winston-Salem experiences hunger and on average the food I place in the refrigerators are gone in two days,” she said. “I am grateful to have partnerships with other companies that support this effort to help people in need.”
Through the foundation, Faison offers a culinary arts program, LeanBack Kidz Cooking Club, for youth in Winston-Salem interested in learning about healthy food and snacks. Also, the foundation coordinates the annual LeanBack GiveBack Block Party.
Due to her contributions to the community, Faison has received the Newcomer Award from the Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo, named one of 40 Under 40 Leaders by Greater Winston-Salem, and Black Ink’s Forty Under Forty Influential African Americans in the Triad.
In May 2023, UPS featured Faison in their Unstoppable Campaign that showcased her face on a UPS truck billboard and highlighted her at the Film Festival Circuit in Miami, Florida and Toronto, Canada.
To learn more about Faison’s community impact, please visit https://leanbackgiveback.org.
