Kristen Adamo and Rosanna Ortiz

Kristen Adamo (she/her)

Founder of Providence Culinary Collective

GoProvidence.com

Rosanna Ortiz (she/her)

Founder of Rhode Island Wine Experience

WineXRI.com, @winex_ri

Tell us about yourselves, your connection to Rhode Island, and your work.

Kristen Adamo: I am a born and bred Rhode Islander who left for college and for my first job, then came back. My work as President and CEO at GoProvidence is essentially to showcase the incredible people, places, and events that make Rhode Island great, so visitors will be encouraged to host meetings and sporting events here or take a vacation.

Rosanna Ortiz: I grew up in California but have been a New Englander for half my life, and I know and live the culture. As president and founder of RMO PR, I work with a diverse range of clients every day. I created STYLEWEEK Northeast to fill the need of shining a spotlight on our state’s fashion designers, and now I’m doing the same thing with wine.

What’s your motivation for doing this work?

Adamo: We were on vacation in Napa Valley and Rosanna mentioned wanting to do something with wine. I added that I had always wanted to do a culinary festival. A few months later, Commerce RI announced a grant program to build tourism-focused events in what we call the “shoulder seasons,” (March-May and October-November); it provided a large chunk of the seed money the first year.

Ortiz: I think what’s great about how we developed the partnership is that they are two complementary initiatives with different goals.

In what ways do you hope to leave an impact on the Ocean State in the coming year?

Adamo: In our first year, almost every Providence Culinary Collective and Wine X event sold out and we received national media attention. I am confident that we will continue to grow and that our local talent will receive the national recognition they deserve.

What challenges do you anticipate having to overcome to achieve these goals?

Adamo: The economy is uncertain, which means there’s less corporate giving and it’s pretty hard to ask for money for a culinary festival when people need food and shelter. We’ve taken on a large part of the financial responsibility ourselves because it’s good for the city. We also have events at all different price points, so that everyone can enjoy a piece of the festival.

What’s your reason for optimism approaching 2026?

Adamo: Last year, we launched PCC as a four-day celebration of the incredible local culinary talent we have. With the help of Wine X, Food Trucks In, Hope & Main, Feed the Children, and more, we are coming back bigger and better March 26-29, 2026.

Ortiz: Cheers to that!

Sponsored by URI College of Business • web.uri.edu/business