Operations
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August 12, 2026
The Women’s Foodservice Forum has partnered with consultancy Culture Partners to provide culture and accountability training to its more than 8,000 members, according to a press release.
The collaboration aims to bring methodologies often reserved for top executives directly to foodservice leaders at every organizational level.
The initiative launches this fall with a leadership development workshop series titled “Lead from Who You Are.” Hosted across six cities, the one-day sessions will focus on helping leaders identify unique strengths, address limiting beliefs and develop behaviors that produce sustainable business results.
“At brands like Chili’s, Red Lobster and Denny’s, I saw firsthand that culture is not separate from business results,” Kelli Valade, president and CEO of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, said in the release. “Culture Partners thinks the way we think, and their tools have a track record. What we’re making available to our members through this partnership is the kind of development that actually changes how leaders show up every day, and Lead from Who You Are workshops are only the beginning.”
Culture Partners, known for frameworks that connect strategy and culture, centers its methodology on the concept that daily behaviors and actions drive business outcomes.
“No matter your title, you’re already shaping the way things get done around you. The question is whether you’re doing it on purpose,” Dr. Jessica Kriegel, chief strategy officer for Culture Partners, said in the pess release. “This partnership is about giving leaders in foodservice the tools to lead that shift intentionally, every day. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kelli in her various roles in the industry and this moment is incredibly special because it expands our shared commitment to developing leaders beyond a single company and across an entire industry. That’s an opportunity with the potential for lasting impact.”
The fall workshops mark the first phase of what the organizations plan to be a year-round development partnership.
