The Institute of Culinary Education announces 2017 #CulinaryVoice Scholarship Challenge winners

The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) has announced the 18 winners of the 2017 #CulinaryVoice Scholarship Challenge. ICE partnered with celebrity chefs and food stars Marcus Samuelsson, Ted Allen, Donatella Arpaia, and Duff Goldman to challenge the world to enter and win more than $212,000 in scholarships to attend one of six diploma programs at ICE.

More than 250 entrants shared their inventive and exciting culinary voices — and the world responded, with the videos garnering a total of 1.8 million votes and views to determine the finalists in each category. An exclusive panel of ICE instructors, including James Beard Award-winning chefs David Waltuck and Michael Laiskonis, selected the winners of the full and partial scholarships to attend ICE's award-winning career programs.

Through their entry videos, the winners shared their unique stories and goals. From launching an artisan bakery to opening a culinary school to empowering women through food, their ambitions were truly inspiring. Though the winners hail from countries across the globe — United States, Guatemala, Venezuela, to name a few — notably, all three winners of Pastry & Baking Arts scholarships call Nigeria home. While some had previous culinary training and experience, others will commence their culinary, or hospitality career paths at ICE.

See the entrants, winners, and more information about the challenge in this video from ICE: