Elliot Leadership Institute

Board of Directors


			John Bowen, University President, Johnson & Wales University John Bowen is University President of Johnson & Wales University, where he oversees more than 16,000 students and about 2,000 employees at six campuses around the U.S. Under his leadership the university has launched several key initiatives including “Vision 2006,” the university’s most recent strategic plan, “Roots in our Community,” a local recognition and scholarship program, and BrandMatters™, a critical brand repositioning project. Since joining Johnson & Wales as a faculty member 30 years ago, Mr. Bowen has held various positions of increasing responsibility, including Director of the Culinary Division, Dean of Culinary Arts, Vice President of Administration, Executive Vice President, and President of the university’s main Providence, R.I. campus. Among other accomplishments he helped establish the university’s career development office, solidifying Johnson & Wales focus on career education. Today, the university achieves a remarkable 98 percent employment rate for its graduates. A dedicated community leader, Mr. Bowen donates his time and expertise to a number of organizations, serving as chairman of the Providence Foundation, and as a board member of Travelers Aid of Rhode Island, and of the Rhode Island Commodores. His community involvement and passion for education have led to numerous recognitions and honors, such as the Special Recognition Award from the National Conference for Community & Justice, the Special Recognition Award from the Human Relations Commission, the David E. Sweet Award from Leadership Rhode Island, the Educator of the Year Award from the American Culinary Federation, and the Honneur of Gold Medal from the Academie Culinaire de France. Most recently, Mr. Bowen received the National Jewish Medical and Research Center of Denver Humanitarian Award. He also serves as a bank director for Citizens Bank of Rhode Island and Connecticut, a trustee for Save the Bay, and a board member of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.

			Stephen Caldeira, Chief Global Communications & Public Affairs Officer Dunkin' Brands, Inc. Stephen J. Caldeira serves as Chief Global Communications & Public Affairs Officer at Dunkin' Brands, Inc., where he oversees all worldwide communications, government and corporate relations for the owner of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins. A co-founder of The Elliot Leadership Institute, Mr. Caldeira previously served as the Institute's President & CEO. Prior to that he was Vice President of Industry Relations for PepsiCo, Inc. \ Earlier in his career, Mr. Caldeira was President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in Chicago, and prior to that worked in Washington, D.C. as Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the National Restaurant Association. He has also worked at public relations giant Burson-Marsteller in New York, where he was a Managing Director in the U.S. Public Affairs Practice, and also served as Political Director to former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.). Mr. Caldeira has served on a number of industry boards, including the MultiCultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, Women’s Foodservice Forum, and the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. Mr. Caldeira is also Chairman of the annual Emeril Lagasse Golf Classic to benefit Johnson & Wales University, where he serves as a member of the corporation, and is also a member of the National Board of Advisors for the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University.

			Joe Cugine, Chief Customer Officer, PepsiCo Foodservice Joe Cugine was named Chief Customer Officer of the PepsiCo Foodservice in 2004. The 17-year company veteran previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the division, where he was actively involved in the restaurant industry. Since joining PepsiCo in 1988, Mr. Cugine has held several positions of increasing responsibility, including Senior Vice President of Beverage Development for Tricon (which later became Yum Brands), Vice President of Beverage Development, Market Manager and Area Vice President. Before joining the company he served as General Manager, Pepsi-Cola of New York. Mr. Cugine got his start in the food and beverage industry with Proctor & Gamble, where he served as a Unit Manager and Sales Representative. Mr. Cugine is a member of the MultiCultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, the Women’s Foodservice Forum, and the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association.

			Carlton Curtis, VP, Industry Affairs, Foodservice and Hospitality, Coca-Cola North America Carlton Curtis is the Vice President of Industry Affairs for the Foodservice and Hospitality Division of Coca-Cola North America. Prior to being named to this position in 2003, Mr. Curtis served as Vice President and Executive Assistant to the President of The Coca-Cola Company. Since joining The Coca-Cola Company in 1972 Mr. Curtis has served in a variety of positions, including Vice President of Corporate Communications and Corporate Public Relations. He was named Director of Worldwide Education Marketing in 1994, and Vice President and Executive Assistant to the President of Coca Cola USA three years later. Mr. Curtis serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Georgia Foundation and is the past president of the University of Georgia’s Alumni Association. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF), the Board of Governors of the Children’s Miracle Network, and the Board of Directors of the National 4-H Council.

			Alice Elliot – Co-Founder & Chairman of The Elliot Leadership Institute Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The Elliot Group, LLC Alice Elliot is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Elliot Group. Founded in 1984, The Elliot Group consists of Elliot Associates and Elliot Executive Source Ltd. Today, The Elliot Group has nine offices throughout the U.S. and is widely recognized as the leading executive search firm serving multi-unit foodservice and hospitality companies, as well as retailers, foodservice manufacturers and distributors. Ms. Elliot is very active in the hospitality industry, where she is a frequent speaker and sponsor of several prominent industry associations including the Women’s Foodservice Forum, and the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance. She has served on the board of the Briarcliff Manor Education Foundation, which provides educational opportunities for the community, and as an Advisory Board member for Catalyst, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women in business. She has been recognized with several industry awards including the Roundtable for Women in Foodservice’s “Pacesetter” award and the Women’s Foodservice Forum’s “Trailblazer” award.

			Philip Hickey, Jr., Chairman & CEO, Park Row Ventures Philip Hickey served as Chairman & CEO of LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille parent RARE Hospitality until late 2007, at which time RARE Hospitality was acquired by Darden Restaurants, Inc. In addition to leading Park Row Ventures, he also serves as a consultant to Darden. Under Mr. Hickey's leadership LongHorn and Capital Grille won various awards for outstanding people performance, management retention and customer satisfaction, with Forbes naming RARE one of the "200 Best Small Companies in America." As a veteran of more than 30 years in the industry, Mr. Hickey has experienced the restaurant business from many perspectives. He has been an entrepreneur, single restaurant owner-operator; has co-founded a restaurant company and taken it public, and has grown a concept from 6 to 50 restaurants. In 2005, Mr. Hickey received the Golden Chain Award from Nation’s Restaurant News, as well as the “Chain Leadership Award” from Chain Leader Magazine. In 2002, he was named “Restaurateur of the Year” by the Georgia Hospitality and Travel Association and in 2004, he was inducted into the “Wall of Fame” at the Michigan State University of Hospitality Business. Mr. Hickey serves on the Board of the National Restaurant Association, the board of Advisors of the Hospitality Business Programs at Michigan State and Georgia State University, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Hemisphere, Inc., the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and the Georgia Tourism Foundation. A frequent guest lecturer at colleges and universities, he also is co-author of the book, “Managing Service in Food and Beverage Operations.” He is a founding board member to he YMCA Community Action Project and serves as Chairman of the Board of Councilors of the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta.

			Ellen Koteff , Editor, Nation’s Restaurant News Ellen Koteff is the Editor of Nation’s Restaurant News, where she oversees all editorial content and direction of the only paid circulation newsweekly serving the $476 billion U.S. foodservice industry. Under Ms. Koteff’s leadership, Nation’s Restaurant News has been recognized with several editorial awards and in 2002 she was honored with American Business Media’s prestigious McAllister Editorial Fellowship. Before joining Nation’s Restaurant News as managing editor in 1992, Ms. Koteff was an editor for The Parsippany (N.J.) Daily Record. Before that she spent several years as Editor of The Palm Beach (Fla.) Daily News. A career journalist, Koteff has also contributed to a variety of publications including Vanity Fair, Palm Beach Life, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Women’s Wear Daily and Time. She has also conducted book research and written editorials for public television. Ms. Koteff is a member of Women in Communications, American Business Media, and the New York Financial Writers Association. She also currently serves on the board of directors of the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), the International Foodservice Editorial Council, and the Women’s Foodservice Forum.

			Tom Larranaga, Publisher, Nation’s Restaurant News Tom Larranaga is the Publisher of New York City-based Nation’s Restaurant News, the only paid circulation and the only weekly news publication serving the $476 billion U.S. foodservice industry. Mr. Larranaga also heads Nation’s Restaurant News’ website nrn.com, its custom publishing and event marketing businesses, and is the Chairman of the leading foodservice executive conference, the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) conference. Mr. Larranaga joined Nation’s Restaurant News as National Sales Director in May, 2006. He was named Publisher in January, 2008. Prior to joining Nation’s Restaurant News, Mr. Larranaga was a group publisher for Advanstar Communications, a leading business-to-business communications company, where he headed up three media brands for the pharmaceutical industry. From 1994 to 1999, he served as publisher of Sales & Marketing Management, a publication of Bill Communications. Over the course of 18 years in business media, two of Mr. Larranaga’s publications have been awarded the prestigious Grand Neal Award for excellence in journalism.

			Rhonda Levene, SVP, Business Development, PepsiCo Foodservice Rhonda Levene is Senior Vice President of Business Development for PepsiCo’s Foodservice Division. In this position she is responsible for leading the Business Development organization in developing new partnerships across all PepsiCo lines of business, including Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay, Quaker Foods, Tropicana and Gatorade. Prior to joining PepsiCo in 2005, Ms. Levene was with Pegasus Logistics Group as its General Manager, responsible for Customer Service, Operations and Sales for the rapidly growing transportation company. She previously spent 15 years in several sales, marketing and financial executive posts for Coca-Cola North America, and was responsible for driving growth of the company’s products and services via national foodservice customers. Ms. Levene began her career at international public accounting firm Ernst & Whinney, where she earned her CPA license. She later led the Investor Relations and Tax functions for a privately-held real estate developer. Ms. Levene is an active member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, a board member for the Dallas-based non-profit Alley’s House, and a published author.

			Kenneth Levy, Senior Vice President of Special Projects, Johnson & Wales University Kenneth Levy is Senior Vice President of Special Projects at Johnson & Wales University. In this position he is responsible for working with the President of J&W’s four primary campuses to ensure the university’s real estate transactions are designed and its physical assets are deployed to best serve the university and the communities in which they are located. A former restaurateur and entrepreneur, Mr. Levy has led several successful J&W initiatives to establish innovative and effective models of university investment and operations in urban communities. In 2003, he positioned J&W as the driving force in the redevelopment of a section of Charlotte’s Center City area. Securing $40 million in private and public funding, J&W broke ground in less than one year, opening a state-of-the-art campus in Charlotte in September 2005. Mr. Levy was formerly head of J&W’s international program, where he grew enrollment from overseas from 300 to 1,200 students, helping the university become one of the 100 largest international schools in the U.S. He is a founding board member of the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance. He also was a founder of the University of St. Martin, serving as the first commissioner of higher education for the island.

			Patrick Mulhern, President, Monarch Foods (A U.S. Foodservice Division) Patrick Mulhern is President of Monarch Foods, the U.S. Foodservice division responsible for all procurement, as well as the development sourcing and marketing of the company’s exclusive brands. He previously served as president of North Star Foodservice, the U.S. Foodservice unit that serves the multi-unit restaurant market. Prior to joining to U.S. Foodservice, Mr. Mulhern was a founding partner, board member and Executive Vice President of the Vistar Corporation, formerly the Multifoods Distribution Group (MDG) of International Multifoods. After participating in a group that purchased the company he spearheaded a strategic overhaul that led eleven quarters of consistent sales growth and earnings improvement. Previously, Mr. Mulhern worked for12 years at broad-line distributor Alliant Foodservice (formerly Kraft Foodservice). Mr. Mulhern began his career on the operations side of the restaurant business, working at the Bill Knapp’s chain in the Midwest among other assignments. He is a past board member of the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) and the Unified Distribution Association (Unipro UDA). He is also a contributor to the Rocky Mountain Food Bank and has been involved in board and volunteer efforts at both the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Gleaners Food Bank (in Detroit).

			Steve Romaniello, President & CEO, FOCUS Brands Inc. Steve Romaniello is President & CEO of FOCUS Brands, the franchisor and operator of nearly 2,200 ice cream stores, bakeries, restaurants, and cafes in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 32 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel®, Cinnabon®, Schlotzsky’s®, and Moe’s Southwest Grill®. The company is also the franchisor of Seattle’s Best Coffee® on certain military bases and international markets. In addition to his post at FOCUS Brands, Mr. Romaniello currently serves as president of Moe’s. Mr. Romaniello joined Carvel in 2002 as president of the franchise and foodservice division, and laid the foundation for the strategic turnaround of one of America’s favorite ice cream brands. Once the Carvel system was stabilized, the company was renamed FOCUS Brands to reflect the organization’s long-term vision to become a multi brand franchisor. Under his direction and with the support of FOCUS Brands’ owner Roark Capital Group, the organization acquired Cinnabon and Seattle’s Best Coffee in 2004, Schlotzsky’s in 2006, and Moe’s Southwest Grill in 2007. Previously Mr. Romaniello was President and COO of US Franchise Systems (USFS), where he helped grow the company from one brand with 27 hotels in nine states to three brands and over 500 hotels in 47 states and five countries. Before joining USFS, Mr. Romaniello was Holiday Inn Worldwide’s youngest vice president, responsible for franchise services, support, and training for 1,700 hotels in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Fast Signs, the International Franchise Association (IFA); the IFA’s Diversity Institute; and the Atlanta Franchise Alliance.

			Julia Stewart, Chairman & CEO, IHOP Corp. Julia Stewart, a 34-year veteran of the foodservice industry, serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IHOP Corp. Since joining IHOP in December 2001, Ms. Stewart has implemented significant shifts in strategy and led efforts to revitalize the IHOP brand, resulting in 15 consecutive quarters of comp sales increases, all-time highs in stock price, and commitments for nearly 500 new IHOP locations. Prior to joining IHOP Corp., Ms. Stewart served as President of the domestic division of Applebee's International, Inc. Before joining Applebee's, Ms. Stewart held several key executive positions with Taco Bell Corporation, including National Vice President of Franchise and License and Western Region Vice President of Operations. Over a 15-year period prior to Taco Bell, she held various key marketing positions with Stuart Anderson's Black Angus/Cattle Company Restaurants, Spoons Grill & Bar, Burger King Corp. and Carl's Jr. Restaurants. Ms. Stewart has also held leadership positions within the foodservice industry including past president and founding member of the Women's Foodservice Forum, Executive Board Member of the California Restaurant Association, and President of the National Restaurant Association's Marketing Executives Group. Ms. Stewart is also the recipient of prestigious industry awards including the Womens Foodservice Forum’s Trailblazer award, International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) Silver Plate, the Nation’s Restaurant News Golden Chain award, and the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) Commitment to People award. Ms. Stewart serves on the Board of Directors of Avery Dennison and the UCLA Anderson School of Management Board of Visitors. She is also a trustee of the California Science Center Foundation, and as a director of Children’s Bureau.

			Curtis Wilson, Vice President & General Manager, Restaurant Industries, American Express Company Curtis Wilson is Vice President & General Manager of Restaurant Industries for American Express Establishment Services, where he leads the corporation’s various activities pertaining to the foodservice and hospitality industries. Before being named to this post in 2006, he was Vice President & General Manager of the Customer Development & Business Strategy Group for Establishment Services, North America, and served as a member of the division’s executive team. Mr. Wilson has held several progressive positions of responsibility within American Express since joining the company in 1991 as a territory manager in the Washington, D.C. region. Previously, he held a variety of sales and marketing positions within Procter and Gamble. Mr. Wilson serves on the board of trustees for the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) and the YMCA board in Montclair, N.J.