A leading restaurateur, proponent of Indian cuisine with her unique Latin twist at Vermilion, and a zealous champion of women – former World Bank economist and McKinsey & Co. management consultant Rohini Dey straddles the worlds of business and philanthropy across the US and India.
Rohini’s career spans several phases:
- She taught in Academia, has a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, and a Doctorate in Management Science from the University of Texas.
- She worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. where she led projects in foreign investment policy and coauthored a book on infrastructure privatization.
- At McKinsey & Co., her management consulting projects and knowledge development focused on hi-tech, telecom and growth.
- As an Entrepreneur, Dey combines her business credentials with her passion for food by establishing Vermilion restaurants in Chicago (since 2003) and in Manhattan (for 10 years).
- As a Writer and Speaker, she writes policy, parity and business opinions for CNN, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Huffington Post, Thrive Global and Crain’s Business (#1 op-ed 2016). She has spoken and keynoted at Politico Women Rule, The Global Economic Summit (US State Dept.), TEDx, and the NATO Summit for Chicago.
- As a Women’s Activist Rohini founded Let’s Talk Womxn in July 2020, a collaboration of women restaurateurs to counter the pandemic and build scale together. Let’s Talk has grown to over 350 women restaurateurs collaborating across 12-14 cities within ten months. She has been included in the NRN Top 50 Power List in 2021, Timeout Women of the Year 2021 and featured on The Today Show and Good Morning America for launching and leading Let’s Talk. Rohini is a staunch supporter of women in business and education of girls on a global level. To redress the “gastro-ceiling” in her industry, she cofounded the James Beard Foundation Women’s Leadership Program in 2011, which she led and chaired for a decade. Her writing proceeds go entirely to the non-profit (MSEdG – Educate Girls Globally) founded by the Dey-Kohli family.
Rohini went entrepreneurial driven by her conviction that Indian cuisine in the United States was confined to stereotypes, US fine dining is excessively Eurocentric, and most global cuisines are marginalized to an “ethnic” fringe. At inception, Vermilion was acclaimed “Best Restaurants” for its intrepid Indian-Latin fare by Chicago magazine, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country, USA Today, Bon Appetit, Wine Enthusiast, 3 stars Chicago Tribune, Esquire, 4 Stars NY Daily News. Rohini is profiled for entrepreneurship by CNBC and the Financial Times. Apart from being a Trustee of the James Beard Foundation for a decade and helping bring the JBF Awards to Chicago, Rohini is on the board of the PSA World Squash Championship, and on the Advisory Council of the Illinois Restaurateurs Association. Chefs launched and mentored by Vermilion have competed and judge on Chopped, Iron Chef, Top Chef, and opened restaurants of their own. Rohini frequently judges Food Network shows.
Rohini has been awarded Woman of Distinction by Children’s Hope, Philanthropy Award by American India Foundation, Entrepreneur of the year – India by the City of Chicago, WCO Women’s Leadership Award by JP Morgan Chase, and WE Culinary & Women Empowerment Award. Rohini is a senior donor of the American India Foundation (AIF), an active member of The Chicago Network (TCN), International Women’s Forum (IWF) and Women’s Forum of New York (WFNY). Rohini is known in the lifestyle space: Women of Influence – Michigan Avenue, 50 most beautiful Chicagoans – Chicago Magazine, Beautiful Homes – Chicago Social, Entertaining with Flair – Chicago Magazine. She stays connected to academia by engaging with the entrepreneurial departments of business schools (University of Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia University).
On a personal level, Rohini has two daughters, is an avid reader, loves dark movies, is a policy wonk, still loves to dine out, thrives on travel, runs daily (Chicago Marathon, Half Ironman), is an amateur chess and squash enthusiast, and has accomplished a personal dream – climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.