WFF Awards

The Jackie B. Trujillo SOAR Award is presented annually to recognize an outstanding organization that is a proven Standard-Setter for Opportunity, Advancement and Recognition for women within their organization. Established in 2006, the SOAR award honors companies with demonstrable corporate initiatives that result in a strong track record of attracting, developing, retaining and promoting women to the highest levels of the organization.

2012 SOAR Award Application

General Mills is very proud of the foundation that they have built for working women. Their strong values and long-term commitment to representation, career paths, and meeting the needs of women create an environment where they – and all employees – canflourish. They continue to build on that foundation, innovating in the foodservice industry and setting the platinum standard for women in the workforce. General Mills’ commitment to attracting, developing, retaining and promotingis expressed through programs and initiatives for General Mills, Inc. (GMI)as a whole and some specifically for their Bakeries & Foodservice (B&FS) Division. General Mills is regularly recognized externally as an employer of choice for women(and men).

They have received a wide array of awards, citations, “best” lists, honorsand commendations on a yearly basis. In 2011 they were cited as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For (No. 58), Fortune; 100 Best Companies, WorkingMother; Top Companies for Executive Women, National Association for FemaleExecutives and Top 50 Companies for Diversity, DiversityInc.Female representation is strong at GMI and within B&FS and they continue to buildthe pipeline. Women in their U.S. operations represent nearly half of all salaried andmanagement positions and 4 of the 13 (31%) members of their company’s Boardof Directors are women.

In the B&FS Division, women represent close to half oftheir total division employees, officers and divisional Senior Leadership Team.They provide a strong development path for women by leveraging dozens ofnetwork and employee resource groups and by providing structured coaching at alllevels to ensure women can receive high-quality mentoring throughout their career.General Mills offers a comprehensive set of benefits to support women/workingmothers at all life stages. As a “family first” company, General Mills strives tobe flexible by offering a range of programs and options including health andwellness programs, telecommuting, summer hours, FUSE (Flexible User, SharedEnvironments) and additional onsite amenities to help employees balance their lives.

Past Outstanding SOAR Award Recipients

The Women's Foodservice Forum's Trailblazer Award is reserved for those individuals (female or male) who are dedicated to improving the foodservice industry through their support of gender diversity, creating new pathways for women in their company and the industry at large, implementing them at all levels of their organization.

Pat Harris is responsible for the development and implementation of diversity strategies throughout McDonald’s Corporation including the 31,489 restaurants in 118 countries. She began hercareer with McDonald’s over 30 years ago asan administrative assistant in the Corporate Legal department. Harriswas quickly promoted to several positions within the Human Resources department leading to her current global leadership role. Under her leadership, McDonald’s has been widely recognized for its commitment to inclusion and diversity. This recognition includes, Fortune Magazine’s “Top 50 Places for Minorities to Work,” Black Enterprise Magazine’s “Top 40 Companies for Diversity,” Latina Style Magazine’s“Best Companies for Latinas,” Asian Enterprise Magazine’s ”Top 25 Companies for Asians,” the “Disability Diversity Award” by Worklife Matters magazine and the Catalyst Award.

Harris is considered an expert in the field of diversity and holds several leadership positions in many national organizations. Pat is a founder and member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, founder and past chair ofthe Multi Cultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, and past President ofthe Board of Directors for the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization. Pat continues her work with non-profit organizations such as the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, the Roosevelt University Board of Trustees and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Pat received her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration and Personnel Administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Pat was awarded an Honorary PhDfrom South Carolina State University.

Past Trailblazer Award Recipients

The Women's Foodservice Forum's Leadership Award is given each year to a woman executive in the foodservice industry who shows exceptional leadership qualities within her company and the industry at large, and whose professional growth and achievements are recognized through career advancement.

Cheryl A. Bachelder creates work environments where people can do their best work. She believes in a passionate, purposeful approach to work where the focus is on coaching and developing people to be leaders with competence and character. Guided by theservant leadership thinking of Robert Greenleaf, she builds highly collaborative teams with big ambitions for the enterprise, not themselves. These teams work in close partnership and alignment with franchisees to deliver exceptional marketplace results.

Ms. Bachelder is a passionate restaurant industry executive, known for her crisp strategic thinking, guest-focused operations, consistent financial performanceand the development of outstanding leaders and teams. She joined AFC Enterprises in November 2007 after serving as an active member of the Board for a year. She brings more than 30 years of experience in brand building, operations and public-company management at companies like KFC, Domino’s Pizza, RJR Nabisco, The Gillette Company and The Procter & Gamble Company. At Popeyes, Cheryl promptly established a Road Map for Results that focused in four key areas: build the brand, run great restaurants, grow restaurant profits and ramp up new restaurant growth. This strategic framework has led to focused initiatives that have built market share, improved guest ratings byover 20 percentage points and increased restaurant margins by over 200 basis points in three years. The improvement in restaurant performance has led to the acceleration of new unit growth, both in the U.S. and international. Shehas delivered 4 years of results to the shareholders; meeting or exceeding expectations every year.

Today Popeyes has system-wide revenues of $1.9 billion, nearly 2000 restaurants in 25 countries, over 300 franchisees and more than 60,000 restaurant employees. Ms. Bachelder holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing fromthe Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Past Leadership Award Recipients

The Volunteer of the Year Award is presented annually to a WFF volunteer who is highly active in the organization through committee work and general support of WFF. S/he demonstrates consistent effort, above and beyond expectations, enthusiastically and visibly contributing to the goals and overall success of the Women's Foodservice Forum.

Karen Williams is the Chair of Emerging Leaderand Emerging Executive Programming for the WFF Annual Leadership Development Conference. She has been a member of WFF since 1999 and has been an active volunteer since 2002, servingon various committees. In the past 2 years, she has made her mark onthe Emerging Leader/Emerging Executive committee by strategically developing a streamlined and thorough process for selecting Conference speakers and content.

In 2010-2011, Karen overhauled the vetting process by developing and implementing teams to review, rate and provide feedback on speaker content and delivery. This process ensured that the method for selecting speakers was consistent and grounded in the mission of WFF. Herprocess resulted in stronger content with great take-aways individuals could implement immediately when they returned to their companies.

In 2011-2012, Karen assumed responsibility for both Emerging Leaderand Emerging Executive educational tracks. Using the process sheestablished the previous year, the team delivered the recommendedspeakers and content. More importantly, she has ensured that thecommittee is poised to continue the tradition by establishing a winningprocess and succession plan for the team.

Karen Williams is an accomplished business executive with extensive experience in strategic planning and is currently the Executive Directorof Strategy Implementation for Applebee’s Services. She is a graduateof Stanford University and earned her MBA from Harvard.

View Karen Williams Accepting Volunteer of the Year Award

Past Volunteer of the Year Award Recipients

Laurie Burns, Vice-Chair, has been a WFF board member since 2008 and Executive Committee member since 2010. A visionary leader, Laurieserves as chair of the Strategic Advisory Group, playing a key role in shaping WFF‘s five year strategic plan. She has been a quiet force leading the transformation for improved board governance. Laurie has truly been the definition of a servant leader, stepping in to align our volunteer initiatives with the strategic priorities of the organization. Her generous dedication of time and brilliance has allowed the WFF to make quantum leap improvements in our strategic focus.

A powerful internal and external advocate, Laurie has increased Darden’s overall individual and partnership participation. She has used her sphere of influence to engage multiple new partners and facilitate meaningful strategic connections among WFF members. Laurie joined Darden in 1999 as VP of Development for Red Lobster and was promoted to SVP of Development for Darden in 2000; she was promoted to President of Bahama Breeze in March 2003. Laurie has over 20 years of experience in the restaurant/ hospitality industry. Priorto Darden she was VP of Development in the eastern United States for Homestead Village, an extended stay hotel company. She received both her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and M.B.A. from the University of Florida.

Established in 1998, the Outstanding Board Service Award honors the outstanding efforts of a WFF Board Member. The recipient of the award is an individual who has made a major impact on the WFF by driving volunteer programs.

Past Outstanding Board Service Award Recipients