Bria F.

As AAPI Heritage Month comes to a close, we wanted to catch up with Kaya C., a member of Tapioca. Tapioca stands for “Toast Asian and Pacific Islander Opportunities, Community, and Advancement.” They are one of our newest Toast Communities, and they host events throughout the year for us all to come together and celebrate various cultures and traditions.

Tell us more about yourself.

I’m Kaya, and I’m a software engineer on Toast’s Pay Card team. I work on early wage access for restaurant employees.

Why did you join Tapioca?

I decided to join Tapioca because community is very important to me and I believe that Tapioca fosters a strong sense of belonging. It’s amazing to see how engaged the Tapioca community is at Toast, and how many different cultures are represented within this group. I love how Tapiocans really connect over a shared love of food. I’m a huge foodie and food is a major way I feel connected to my own Taiwanese roots, so there is something that feels so beautiful about the shared love for food within the community.

Can you tell us more about Tapioca’s Dining Club Program?

Tapioca has been focusing on creating opportunities for our community to connect with one another across the country, not just in Toast offices. This program encourages Tapiocans to find other local AAPI Toasters and connect with them over a meal.

For our dining club meetup in New York, we went to a dim sum and seafood spot in Chinatown called Ping’s. We ordered a ton of family-style dishes, including peking duck, clay pot ribs, garlic eggplant, and a few others!

I really enjoyed being able to meet up with other Tapiocans in person and enjoy a meal together!