Hometown: Fremont, CA

Business School: Haas School of Business/UC Berkeley, 2013

Undergraduate: Al Akhawayn University (Ifrane, Morocco), 2003

Bio: Alia Al Kasimi is a first year full time MBA student at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. She has a B.S. in General Engineering from Morocco and a M.S. in Computer Science from Indiana University in Bloomington. Alia worked as a consultant in Deloitte Consulting and as a project manager at Prudential. Alia is passionate about cooking and has translated this passion into starting a business focused on Moroccan food. 3 years ago, she started a website www.cookingwithalia.com and a YouTube channel with easy to follow weekly videos on preparing delicious Moroccan cuisine using ingredients and utensils available in the US. With over 175 videos, six million views (350,000 monthly) and thousands of subscribers, cookingwithalia.com is the leading English language destination for learning how to make the most intricate gastronomic creations despite a busy schedule. Alia’s viewers come from all across the US, Europe and North Africa. In 2009, Alia took her food passion to the next level by launching a consumer packaged goods business manufacturing Moroccan baking mixes and her products were sold at Wholefoods (Princeton, NJ). Alia’s goals are to learn the fundamentals of business and entrepreneurship to re-launch her food business on a larger sustainable scale.

Venture/Entrepreneur Interest: Entrepreneurship, Ethnic Food/CPG

Sector Interest:  Ethnic Food/CPG

Springworks Project (Working) Title: “Flavors of Morocco” Business Plan

Springworks Project Description: Creating and a developing a business plan that evaluates all aspects of the economic viability of introducing a Moroccan and Mediterranean packaged food product line in the U.S. market.