Tawnya Bahr

Essential ingredients for life

Tawnya Bahr has spent her life carving new paths through Australia’s food landscape, not with ego, but with intention.

As co-founder of Straight To The Source and Group Executive Chef at Orchard Early Learning Centres, she’s a rare blend of visionary and hands-on leader.

Tawnya brings people together, farmers and chefs, students and policymakers, with an infectious belief in the power of connection through food.

Her voice, whether on stage or the radio, is calm, clear, and rooted in lived experience.

A mentor, advocate and natural storyteller, she’s shaping a food future that’s smarter, kinder, and more human.

Tawnya Bahr Book as a speaker/entertainer for your next event

Key Points for Tawnya Bahr

Tawnya’s work bridges paddocks, producers, and professional kitchens, building networks that champion sustainability and regional innovation.
Her keynotes and MC work blend rich storytelling with practical insight, drawing from real-life experience in food, leadership, and resilience.
A passionate supporter of women in hospitality, Tawnya speaks openly about work-life balance, career longevity, and future-focused leadership.
As co-host of the Straight To The Source podcast and a regular on ABC Radio Sydney, she’s a trusted voice shaping national conversations around food.

Topics for Tawnya Bahr

Reframe career
Tawnya moved from a successful career in IT in the USA to moving to Australia and starting from the ground up a new business in the food industry, repurposing her skills, networking and educating herself to becoming one of the leading food consultant chefs in Australia.
Finding your purpose
Tawnya was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32. She talks about resilience, her lifestyle changes, motherhood, career compromises and following her passion on the back of being a cancer survivor.
Navigating our food source
Tawnya has been taking chefs and the public across Australia to learn firsthand where our food comes through Straight To The Source. She can share her story and passion for our Australian growers, regenerative agriculture, sustainable ingredient sourcing, draught and bushfire consequences to our rural communities and city farmers markets.
Female leadership
Tawnya is a highly respected food industry expert and communicator. She mentors’ entrepreneurs and critical thinkers in the pursuit to take their concept to market.
Challenging perceptions
Tawnya is an American female chef running two businesses and a family in Sydney Australia. She’s a pioneer that has taken many risks (not all have worked mind you) and continues to grow and pull people up with her along the way.
Diversity in children’s dining experiences
Tawnya is experienced in writing children’s menus and developing kid food recipes for cafes and early learning centres. She works with leading dietitians in writing menu’s that children enjoy eating. An advocate for educating children and parents from all cultures and backgrounds and inspiring them to get creative in the kitchen, cook food that looks amazing and tastes great.

Testimonials for Tawnya Bahr

Professional Conference Organiser

The team at ICMI offer a fantastic and professional service that allows us (event organisers) to focus on the delivery of our events

Corporate Client

I was very happy with the whole process from initial call through to performance, every question or detail was explained in a professional friendly manner. I will definitely be in touch with ICMI again.

Insurance Client

All ICMI staff I dealt with were exceptionally efficient, collaborative and responsive to ensuring our talent was informed.

Government Client

ICMI were flexible and accommodating, this year finding a speaker for your event that would work in a virtual setting was a challenge, but we ended up with a very successful event and the perfect speaker! Always patient and responsive to my calls or emails.

Corporate Client

Association Client

We were impacted by a COVID-19 outbreak in South Australia that threatened to de-rail our Northern Territory based event, but the ICMI logistics team made it happen when the window of opportunity arose.

NFP Client

ICMI listened to our needs and were very supportive with the change of plans with dealing with the pandemic. They gave great advice and helped us secure the right talent for our event.

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