Dog Tag Bakery isn’t short on menu items. Armed with an array of homemade sweet goods and sandwiches, the Washington, DC-based bake shop has something for just about everyone (all certified nut-free). From classic dessert fare — blondies, brownies and cookies are particularly popular — to seasonal favorites, including Cherry Blossom Linzer cookies and Cherry Chocolate Chip scones, Dog Tag’s visitors certainly aren’t in danger of going hungry.

“We offer a wide variety of baked goods ranging from cookies, cakes, brownies, mini pies, tarts, Danish, biscuits and croissants, as well as seasonal features,” explained DeAngelo Gamble, Dog Tag Bakery’s director of bakery operations. “We also make breakfast and lunch sandwiches, including our honey thyme biscuits and Morning Glory muffins.”

The food keeps customers returning, but there is far more to the story of Dog Tag Bakery than cookies and cakes.

Named after the identification tag worn by members of all branches of the United States military, Dog Tag Bakery was founded in 2014 by Connie Milstein and Rev. Rick Curry. Both were avid bakers and pioneering advocates for military families. Milstein served as an attorney for the Coast Guard’s Board for the Correction of Military Records and is a founding board member of Blue Star Families, while Curry, who died in 2015, created the Wounded Warriors Writers Program. He also worked on a writing and theater workshop with veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Milstein and Curry believed that a bakery would serve as a place to empower transitioning veterans and military families. To that end, Dog Tag Bakery, in tandem with Georgetown University, founded a fellowship program designed to combine business education with wellness and learning labs. The program also provides practical training in presentation, accounting, resume review, pitching and marketing. Graduates of the program receive a business certificate from the university and practical lessons from the bakery and industry professionals. The program has evolved over the past 10 years and is now hybrid. It runs twice a year for five months in both Chicago and Washington, DC, which allows more veterans and their spouses to participate. 

“Dog Tag empowers our veterans with service-connected disabilities, military spouses and caregivers to find renewed purpose and community through an unexpected combination of a bakery and a classroom,” explained Gamble. “We use our bakery as a living business school and community hub, teaching entrepreneurship through the lens of the daily operations of running a bakery. Fellows not only conceptualize businesses in the food industry but also consultancy, textiles, photography, art, finance and many other goods and services. Any profit from the bakery directly funds the fellowship program in combination with our dedicated donors and partners.”

For more information about Dog Tag Bakery and its fellowship program, visit www.dogtaginc.org.