About Rick Cohen

Rick is a social entrepreneur with a passion for food. Having worked in the hospitality industry, including his family’s acclaimed restaurant Casa Brusada north of Venice, Rick has developed the skills and knowledge on what makes a successful food business. Having grown up with family violence, sexual assault and serious mental health issues, Rick spend a lot of his young adulthood in psychiatric care. In was in these years Rick galvanised an everlasting passion to support vulnerable and marginalised people. Through the marriage of these two passions, Rick has been able to help people build the lives they deserve through leadership in social enterprise. 

Rick is a passionate advocate for mental health issues.  In speaking to key stakeholders and across government, business and community organisations, Rick uses his lived-experience to both inform his social entrepreneurship and to advocate for positive changes in our community.