Women’s Foodservice Forum Background
For 19 years, the Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) has led the industry’s efforts to develop gender-balanced leadership talent for all segments of the foodservice and hospitality industry – operators, manufacturers/suppliers and distributors.
The WFF was formed in 1989 by a group of 14 women with a radical notion for the times of developing leadership talent and ensuring career advancement of executive women in the foodservice industry that remained highly male-dominated – particularly within its leadership ranks. This was also during a time when best practices were driving gender-balanced leadership in other industries.
Since then, our membership has grown to 3,700+ members. The organization is now headquartered in Minneapolis, MN and managed by a professional on-site staff.
Since its inception, WFF has made important differences in the personal and professional lives of individual members and the foodservice industry at large. Through highly beneficial sessions at the Annual Leadership Development Conference, Regional Connect events, Executive Women's Summit, signature mentoring programs and facilitated teleforums, WFF provides members with the tools needed to make a positive difference in their careers.
We have designed and shaped WFF programming so that members can build the skills industry leaders look for based upon the WFF Leadership Competency Model, a list of the top ten competencies for foodservice professionals that is created with input from foodservice industry CEO's.
WFF has recorded the progress of female executives through exclusive commissioned research projects over the years and continues to identify solutions and resources to advance its mission and elevate women leaders in our industry. We will continue to share the success stories of those executives who have benefited from their experiences with the WFF and the impact on their organizations.
###