--- description: Find out why Gabriela Cámara is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Gabriela Cámara: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt212681cd6fc9715e/698a124cdb298771b3265d03/time-100-Gabriela-Camara.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Gabriela Cámara by José Andrés  Chef Gabriela C·mara at her restaurant, Cala, in San Francisco, May 28, 2019\. C·mara is also known for her restaurant in Mexico City, Contramar. (Alanna Hale/The New York Times) Chef Gabriela C·mara at her restaurant, Cala, in San Francisco, May 28, 2019\. C·mara is also known for her restaurant in Mexico City, Contramar. (Alanna Hale/The New York Times)Alanna Hale—The New York Times/Redux Gabriela Cámara is one of those chefs who is more than a chef—she is a Renaissance woman on the front lines of our industry, fearlessly forging a path toward the more perfect society she envisions. Through her visionary career, [Gabriela](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/dining/gabriela-camara-mexican-food.html "undefined") has become one of Mexico’s leading [culinary diplomats](https://time.com/5829602/jose-andres-time-100-talks/ "undefined"), both in spirit and in practice. Not only does she run two of the most iconic kitchens on the continent—[Contramar in Mexico City](http://www.contramar.com.mx/ "undefined") and [Cala in San Francisco](https://www.calarestaurant.com/ "undefined")—offering the very best of her cultural heritage, she is also an adviser to the Mexican President, showing by example how food can have an impact far beyond the walls of a restaurant kitchen. People ask me about the [role of chefs](https://time.com/5804655/cooking-at-home-coronavirus/ "undefined") in the 21st century, and I would look no further than Gabriela for the answer. She leads from the front at her restaurants, putting social justice first and advocating for those whose voices are too often marginalized. She walks the walk. _Andrés is a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888220/gabriela-camara/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888220/gabriela-camara/"},"headline":"Gabriela Cámara","datePublished":"2020-09-22T20:47:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:17.544Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888220/gabriela-camara/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt212681cd6fc9715e/698a124cdb298771b3265d03/time-100-Gabriela-Camara.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt212681cd6fc9715e/698a124cdb298771b3265d03/time-100-Gabriela-Camara.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888220/gabriela-camara/","name":"Gabriela Cámara"}}]}] ```