Women’s Foodservice Forum Wraps Leadership Development Workshop Tour, Announces Eight Cities For 2016

DALLAS — WFF, the premier leadership development organization in the food sector, announced plans to expand its new Leadership Development Workshops to eight cities in 2016 after a successful four city tour this fall.

Nearly 400 top executives and emerging leaders convened in Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles for WFF's new, in depth, one day Leadership Development Workshops designed to deliver actionable insights that can be applied to the workplace.

This year WFF introduced Lead at the Speed of Change, a workshop designed to help leaders to be able to quickly assess their people and adapt their own leadership styles to drive rapid results. The workshop series focused on Awareness & Insight, Influence & Diplomacy and Driving Results, which are three of WFF's 12 research-based core leadership competencies.

"This workshop provided individuals an opportunity to gain rich insights, participate in case study exercises and network with peers from all areas of the industry," said Wendy Davidson, president of Kellogg's Specialty Channels and incoming WFF chair.  "The topics shared were not only extremely relevant, but attendees walked away armed with new skills that are immediately actionable in their workplace."

The new Leadership Development Workshops are being offered as an expansion of WFF's Leadership Development Portfolio offerings all year long…all career long.

"The genesis of the Leadership Development Workshops came from a listening tour we conducted last year," said Hattie Hill, WFF president and CEO.  "We asked members what additional resources they would like to see from the WFF, and the answer was to provide new ways to connect and engage with WFF beyond Conference.  We are proud to say we delivered on that ask and are excited to relay that the events have been a huge success."

The leadership workshops were facilitated by Cristina Samuels, president of the Institute of International Training; Mary NG, president of eXcellerating high performance, LLC; and Simon T. Bailey, president and CEO of Brilliance Institute, Inc.

Executive panelist for the workshops included: Atlanta – Kristy Miller, senior purchasing manager, ARCOP/Arby's, Inc.; Kathy Walters, EVP of consumer products group, Georgia Pacific; David Cox, president, ARCOP/Arby's, Inc.; Chicago – Wendy Davidson, president of Kellogg's Specialty Channels North America; Sylvia Wulf, SVP of fresh categories, US Foods; Elise Mitchell, CEO, Dentsu Public Relations Network; Minneapolis -Susan Schneider, president of Plus Relocation Services, Inc.; Leigh Anne Snider, chief retail officer, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group; Bethany Quam, VP and president of convenience and foodservice, General Mills, Inc; John Gainor, president and CEO, International Dairy Queen, Inc.; Los Angeles – Bryan Allred, president Sysco Los Angeles; Frances L. Allen, president of Jack in the Box; Tanya Domier, CEO, Advantage Sales & Marketing, LLC; Christopher Furman, president and CEO, Ventura Foods.

The 2016 Leadership Development Workshop Tour cities are:

Dallas: September 27, 2016

Chicago: September 29, 2016

Orlando: October 4, 2016

Minneapolis: October 11, 2016

Atlanta: October 14, 2016

Washington, DC: October 20, 2016

Philadelphia: October 25, 2016

Los Angeles: November 1, 2016

For more information about the Leadership Development Workshops and other WFF events, please visit www.wff.org.

The Women's Foodservice Forum (WFF) is the industry's premier leadership development organization with more than 25 years of experience advancing women in the foodservice industry. WFF serves thousands of individuals and hundreds of employers in all segments of the industry including operations, manufacturing, distribution, publishing, consulting and more.  Through highly effective and educational events such as the Annual Leadership Development Conference, Executive Summit, leadership development programs and rich networking opportunities, WFF provides the competence and strategic connections needed to make a positive difference in the careers of women in the foodservice industry.  For more information, visit www.womensfoodserviceforum.com.

Source: The Women's Foodservice Forum (WFF)