Jackie Woodward
Jackie Woodward joined Bojangles in 2019 as Chief Brand and Marketing Officer with more than 30 years of marketing experience in domestic and global markets. Since that time, she has made many significant contributions that have helped modernize Bojangles and position the beloved Southern brand for growth. Jackie played a key role in ensuring that […]
Dr. Felicia White Ed.D
Felicia White is an experienced leader in the hospitality industry, supporting businesses with achieving operations excellence, exceeding goals, and managing change. Felicia serves as a volunteer and board member with CHART (Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers), and is President for the 2024-2025 service term. She also serves on the advisory board for Women in […]
Jill Waite
Jill Waite is Chief People Officer at Portillo’s Hot Dogs, a restaurant chain with more than 60 locations, headquartered in Oak Brook, IL. Prior to joining Portillo’s in 2019, she held several Human Resources and Operations roles in the retail, grocery and fitness industries with companies such as Sephora and 24-Hour Fitness.Jill was hired to […]
Caroline Skinner
Great food and great people have been the hallmark of Caroline Skinner’s career. A passionate champion of high-growth, employee-centric workplaces, Caroline serves as Chief Operating Officer of Tupelo Honey Hospitality Corporation. She joined the company as part of the initial senior leadership team in 2013. In her nine-year tenure, she has been responsible for Tupelo […]
Shannan Siemens
Shannan Siemens serves as Chief Communications Officer of Inspire Brands, a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide. Inspire is supported by about 650,000 company and franchise team members. As CCO, Siemens leads communications for Inspire and its six brands, including […]
Maria Rivera
Maria Rivera is a transformative CEO, founder, and cultural architect — and the first Latina to lead a U.S. restaurant brand. Over two decades, she has built and scaled iconic consumer and hospitality brands by blending business acumen with humanity, grit, and storytelling. A proven growth leader, Maria has created nine-digit enterprise value while leading […]
Mary Jane Riva
Mary Jane Riva is the CEO of Pizza Factory, an iconic West Coast pizzeria with 100 locations in states across the country. Mary Jane has been in the industry for more than 30 years and has helped Pizza Factory grow into a staple in countless communities. Starting out as a Pizza Factory franchisee for 24 […]
Sue Petersen
Sue joined Noodles in February of 2015 and prior to going into semi-retirement in April of 2024, was Executive Vice President, Inclusion, Diversity and People. Sue led the HR function, and her passion is creating a great experience for all team members through a caring and inclusive environment where the team can grow and develop […]
Patricia Perry
Patricia is an experienced business development leader. Prior to joining the Bagel Brands team as its Senior Vice President of Franchise and License, she served as the Vice President of Development for Edible Brands, overseeing global development, construction, real estate, franchising, licensing/CPG and business gifting. Patricia led a global relaunch of the franchise development program […]
Sheri Miksa
Sheri Miksa is a 5-time CEO/President of Fast Casual restaurant chains (BIBIBOP Asian Grill, Boneheads, Mazzio’s Pizza, Robeks Juice, and Rubio’s (then NASDAQ: RUBO)), for both public and private companies, including franchised and PE-backed. Her path to the C-Suite was through Operations, serving as a 3-time foodservice Operations executive (LSG Sky Chefs, Seattle Coffee Company, […]