Maya Madsen is the founder and CEO of Maya’s Cookies, America’s #1 Black-Owned Gourmet Vegan Cookie Company. As a vegan with a sweet tooth she had not been able to find perfectly delicious, soft-baked gourmet vegan cookies, so she spent years crafting award-winning and crowd pleasing recipes. She started her gourmet cookie business in 2015 by selling her baked goods at farmers markets in the area and online. Her company was steadily growing year after year. Then, in the summer of 2020, the civil unrest sweeping the nation prompted a list of black-owned businesses to be shared world wide, and Maya’s Cookies made that list (because they are delicious).  Since that summer she has opened two brick-and-mortar stores while also maintaining her online sales, as well as selling on the Home Shopping Network.

Maya is committed to superior customer service and community engagement with a focus on youth and underserved communities. She is a career partner with Kitchens For Good, an organization whose apprenticeship program for those who have barriers to employment such as justice system involvement, a history of foster care, mental health or or substance abuse challenges, or unsheltered living, gives people a chance to become certified in the culinary arts. She is also a mentor at Promises to Kids, San Marcos Boys and Girls Clubs and serves on the boards of Fred Finch, Junior Achievement San Diego, and San Marcos Chamber of Commerce.

She ran 5 marathons while working as a personal fitness instructor and trainer for 30 years before exchanging her gym shoes for oven mitts. She and her husband Dustin have 3 sons, one who now works for Maya’s Cookies.

Maya thanks her sponsors Michael Brunker, Donna DeBerry and Valerie Attisha.