Denise Woodard

Founder, entrepreneur, and mentorship expert Denise Woodard is the groundbreaking Founder and CEO of Partake Foods – a natural food company inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Launched in 2017, Partake’s delicious, allergy-friendly products can now be found in more than 9,000 retailers including Target, Kroger, and Whole Foods Market. Woodard is the first Black woman to raise more than $1M publicly for a consumer-packaged goods (CPG) food startup, and the company has raised over $19M to date from investors including HER, Rihanna, Cleveland Ave, FF2032, and Marcy Ventures Partners. Partake was recently named #45 on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list, and Woodard was named on Inc.’s “100 Female Founders” list for building a fast-growing snacking brand that everyone can enjoy. After winning a pitch competition with just the idea, Woodard conducted hundreds of demos, leveraged her supply chain expertise, and created a product and company that has attracted the attention of major funders and publications alike. She delivers actionable, no-nonsense insights with optimism, creating an uplifting and memorable event for groups including Microsoft, Victoria’s Secret, Danone, Carta, and Target, to name a few.

Woodard serves on the board of Naturally New York, the advisory board for the UNC Shuford Center for Entrepreneurship, and on the WP Carey School of Business Dean’s Council. Prior to launching Partake, Woodard spent a decade in CPGs at various Fortune 100 companies. A mentorship expert, she has participated as a mentoring founder-in-residence for three cohorts of Target’s Forward Founder’s program supporting 30 founders in that time. Woodard is also the Founder of Black Futures in Food & Beverage, a fellowship program that offers mentorship, internships, and job opportunities within the food and beverage industries for active HBCU students. From her commitment to excellence in branding, to growing a strong team that exceeds goals, Woodard shares her leadership perspective that resonates with everyone from entrepreneurs looking to make their mark to C-suite executives looking to inspire their teams around a unified vision.