Tom Landis – Founder
Tom Landis, a genuine advocate for underrepresented communities, is driven by personal experiences and a family history. His mother’s resilience, who faced physical challenges due to polio yet dedicated herself to teaching GED classes, instilled in him a profound empathy for those facing adversity. With a career spanning marketing, franchising and entrepreneurship, Tom’s commitment to social impact shone through his early ventures with brands such as Texadelphia and Pizza Patron, where he embraced and empowered employees to rise above kitchen roles through innovative education.
Then, in 2015, in response to the glaring need for sustainable employment opportunities for individuals with special needs and the high turnover in the restaurant industry, Tom founded Howdy Homemade, leveraging ice cream as a simple, safe and inclusive business model, supported by a mortgage on his home. Howdy Homemade mission is to create jobs giving career opportunities to individual with developmental needs.
Throughout his career, his dedication to social entrepreneurship and community impact has led to numerous accolades, including being the first non-Hispanic recipient of the LULAC Businessman of the Year Award in 2001 and receiving the George Washington Medal of Honor for his work pioneering workforce inclusion in 2016.
Tom’s unwavering mission to create meaningful jobs for underrepresented individuals, has earned him recognition and respect in the field of workforce inclusion.