Opportunity doesn’t always knock. Sometimes, opportunity comes from barriers knocked down.
The New Orleans-based nonprofit Turning Tables stands tall as a remarkable battering ram on this front. Launched in 2019 by New York City native Touré Folkes, the organization’s mix of drinks education and bar training creates clear pathways for Black and brown individuals to develop acumen and attain opportunity at different stages of their hospitality careers.

The program’s design also provides each of its annual graduates visibility in the industry and the city itself. Being a public face in an industry built on the fundamentals of community-building is of particular importance in New Orleans, a city where a little over 60 percent of the population is Black or Hispanic.
“We want to show that the industry isn’t just reserved for white men behind the bar,” says Folkes, who currently serves as Turning Tables’ executive director. “We want to work toward making the industry a microcosm of something larger that’s more reflective of the world.”

Turning Tables’ impact always starts in New Orleans, where its externship programs allow cohorts to gain critical on-location training at some of the city’s bars, restaurants, and nightclubs. Its influence has gradually extended beyond the Crescent City over the years; some graduating cohorts have evolved their careers to take on prominent roles carrying national and international exposure, like brand ambassadorship.
The organization’s influence has left Folkes with a wonderful sense of surprise all these years later. “Honestly, I didn’t realize it would have the impact it had so quickly, let alone whether it would be around today,” he says.

A lot of Turning Tables’ success is owed to Folkes’s entrepreneurial spirit, unyielding passion, and capacity to figure things out quickly. He drew inspiration for his nonprofit from volunteer work in New Orleans as well as his days in the New York’s restaurant scene, where he witnessed places being open to providing hospitality mentorship for young Black and brown people.
Developing relationships with organizations like the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation and Another Round Another Rally (VinePair’s 2023 Next Wave Awards Nonprofit of the Year) helped him transform inspiration into actionable plans. “I was pretty green,” he admits. “Being part of those groups helped open my eyes to the realm of what was possible with community outreach.”

Folkes was still deciphering these possibilities even as Turning Tables moved forward with its first cohort. “We were all in the grind together, learning everything,” he says. “I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to figure things out, while also trying to be the cohorts’ ‘industry parent.’”
His efforts paid off handsomely. While it took some time for Turning Tables to get, as Folkes puts it, “poppin’ and lockin’,” the program’s success along with Folkes’s presence as a person of positive energy in the community provided enough of a proof of concept for the doors of hospitality — and opportunity — to swing open.

Turning Tables’ impact has turned the kind, gregarious Folkes into an inspirational industry figure in New Orleans and beyond. He’s used the platform to show a deep appreciation for others who also create visibility for underrepresented groups in hospitality, such as Tales’ 2025 Bar Mentor of the Year Colin Asare-Appiah, and Tales’ Bartender of the Year Christine Kim.
He also acknowledges there is still much work to do in creating equity in the industry. “The bar scene is still a tale of two different industries,” he says. “You can see that in plain sight.” Through its work, Turning Tables is helping to shrink that gap one cohort at a time.