Adenah Bayoh – Keynote Speaker

Restaurateur & Real Estate Developer

Adenah Bayoh embodies the American Dream. After escaping civil war in her native country of Liberia, she immigrated to the United States where she has become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in her home state of New Jersey. After attending public high school in Newark, Adenah put herself through Fairleigh Dickinson University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management.
Adenah is an IHOP multi franchisee with 4 restaurants in northern New Jersey. She opened her first IHOP in Irvington Township, New Jersey at the age of 27, making her one of the youngest franchisees in the country. Because of the success of this flagship location, she has become the second largest employer in the Township. In late 2017, Adenah launched Cornbread, her first independent fast casual, farm-to-table, soul food restaurant. She recently opened her second Cornbread in downtown Newark. Most recently, she launched her latest restaurant concept, Urban Vegan.
In addition to her restaurants, Adenah is a successful real estate developer with a portfolio of several major residential and mixed-use urban redevelopment projects across northern New Jersey.
Adenah’s accomplishments have not gone unrecognized; in January 2015, she was appointed to the prestigious Federal Reserve Bank of New York Advisory Council on Small Business and Agriculture. In December 2015, she was named to Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 list alongside such luminaries as former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Oscar winning actress Viola Davis. Additionally, in March 2014, she was honored as one of the Top 50 Women in Business by New Jersey’s only statewide business publication, NJBIZ, and was featured on the cover of its March 24th issue. Despite her numerous successes, her proudest achievement is being a mother to her two young children.