Curt’s Café founder & Oakton alumna wins prestigious ICCTA award

Oakton Community College alumna Susan Trieschmann, founder and executive director of Evanston-based Curt’s Café, is the recipient of the 2018 Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) Distinguished Alumnus Award. The honor, presented at the ICCTA annual awards banquet on June 1 in Springfield, recognizes a community college alumnus with distinction in a chosen field, humanitarian service, support of education and community colleges and ability to overcome life’s obstacles.

Prior to enrolling at Oakton at the age of 48, Trieschmann, a resident of Wilmette, had been the head of catering at Chicago’s Pump Room and the co-founder of Food for Thought—the third largest caterer in Chicagoland—with her sister, Nancy, and brother-in-law, Curt. After Oakton, she earned a bachelor’s degree in social justice from DePaul and is now providing workforce and life-skills training for at-risk youth at Curt’s Café. Her work has brought recognition as a L’Oréal Paris Woman of Worth, 2014 Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers Public Citizen of the Year, Open Communities Jean R. Cleland Social Action Award recipient and the Corrine Passage Spirit of Evanston Award winner.

At the ICCTA awards ceremony, Trieschmann recalled the impact Oakton has played on her life.

“When I walked into Oakton for the first time, I was nervous and self-conscious about what I was going to recall,” she said. “What I found on my first day, rather than being humiliated and made to feel small, I was empowered to be the best that I could be. I was encouraged by each and every administrative staff, counselor and faculty member – many who were half my age – on each step of the journey. Oakton treated me with respect, dignity and a tremendous amount of patience. That encouraged me to be bold enough to go on to get my bachelor’s degree and then to find the courage to open a non-profit organization.”

ICCTA Past President Linda Liddell told the audience at the ceremony, “When Susan arrived at Oakton, she was not your typical college freshman. She had already achieved the American dream by starting at the bottom and rising to the top of the Chicago restaurant industry. Susan wanted to inspire her children by earning a college degree before they did. Energized by her experiences at Oakton, she went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in social justice. Today she is deeply involved in the pursuit of social justice at Curt's Café. Curt’s Café is not just a restaurant – it serves as a workforce training program for at-risk youth. Susan has creatively mixed her knowledge of restorative justice and food service to serve up a menu of programs that help graduates find employment and safe housing. The success of Curt’s Café speaks for itself, with only a three percent recidivism rate for its clients.”

Trieschmann, who served as Oakton’s keynote commencement speaker in 2017, told the audience how community colleges can be a catalyst for change: “I can say with all my heart that Oakton positively transformed my life. It’s because of my experience at Oakton that I was forced out of my comfort zone and into a position to help hundreds of young adults now feel their worth that they are smart enough to go to college, build a career and find endless possibilities. The community college experience is one that so many of us need but don’t know it at the time. I will proudly walk into any community college with my students at Curt’s Café and watch them begin futures they never thought possible.”