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Sisterly Love Collective is an alliance of women across the Philadelphia region empowering and advancing women in food and hospitality networking, mentorship, and communal support. Find out how to become a sponsor here and how to donate here.

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Ultimate Job Interview: PA Attorney General Race

On Tuesday, April 1 at 5pm, join us in Fitler Club’s Ballroom in Center City Philadelphia for The Ultimate Job Interview: District Attorney Race. DA Candidate Patrick Dugan will be interviewed by a panel of experts in hiring, law and leadership featuring: Marcel Pratt, former City Solicitor, current Managing Partner at Ballard Spahr; Alexandria MacMaster, former Montgomery County ADA, current Partner at Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan; and moderated by a member of the 6abc News Action Team. 

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WATCH

Ellen Yin on Leadership as a Collective Act

The celebrated restaurateur won the Chamber of Commerce’s prestigious Paradigm Award for women. Here’s what she credits for her success

WATCH

Ellen Yin on Leadership as a Collective Act

The celebrated restaurateur won the Chamber of Commerce’s prestigious Paradigm Award for women. Here’s what she credits for her success

BY Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Mar. 28, 2025

Print

When Covid hit five years ago, Ellen Yin was among the hundreds of local restaurateurs forced to, as she puts it, “part ways” with her employees at Fork and the other High Street Hospitality restaurants that she runs.

For nearly two years, Yin couldn’t do what she loves — bringing delicious food and warm hospitality to Philadelphians. But she didn’t stop working: Yin was a leader in national efforts to advocate for federal help for restaurants and workers, and she joined with other local restaurateurs to form Sisterly Love Collective, a support and advocacy group for local women in the industry. (Sisterly Love won The Citizen’s Connector Rad Award last year.)

Coming out of Covid, Yin didn’t just go back to business as usual — she showed that, more than 25 years after starting Fork, she can still top her own game. In addition to last year’s Rad Award, she won 2023’s James Beard Award for outstanding restaurateur. And last week, she received the Chamber of Commerce’s Paradigm Award for outstanding businesswomen in Philly.

In her acceptance speech, Yin related her history with food, the home she has found at restaurants, doing the right thing by her employees from the start, and what she considers the secret to good leadership:

“Today, as I accept this award, I do so on behalf of every woman who has been part of this journey,” she told the several hundred people in attendance at the Bellevue. “Leadership is not about individual achievements, but about creating pathways for others to thrive. The Sisterly Love Collective exemplifies this ethos, and I am committed to continuing this work, ensuring that our collective efforts leave a lasting legacy for future generations.”

Watch Yin’s whole speech below:

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Restaurateur Ellen Yin (center) with members of the Sisterly Love Collective at the Paradigm Award for the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.

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