Inclusion/Diversity
December 2005

Women’s Foodservice Forum:
Challenging the Foodservice Industry to
Place More Women in Top Jobs

By Alice Wheelwright, WFF Chair

It is an exciting time for the WFF. I believe our members and the entire industry will continue to benefit from the WFF’s dedication to elevating women leaders. At the 2005 Annual Leadership Development Conference, the WFF Board of Directors set bold goals for the foodservice industry for achieving gender-diverse leadership. The first bold goal is Three at the Table: at least three women serving on the board of directors and at least three women on every senior management team of every company within 5 years. Our second bold goal is 20/20 Vision. By 2020, women should comprise 50% of every executive team and board of directors because gender diverse leadership improves business performance.

How will we achieve these goals? The WFF Roadmap to Results sets the course. It is the WFF’s strategic plan to help the industry achieve these objectives through the allocation of our organizational resources. The Roadmap can best be understood by reviewing the activity and accomplishments of the four WFF milestones; WFF Vitality, Executive Readiness, Organizational Readiness and More Women in Top Jobs.

WFF Vitality includes having a sound infrastructure to support our work and ensure that we meet the needs of our membership, sponsor companies and the industry at large. To that end, the WFF added Patti Venetucci, Executive Director and Ann Nickolas, Development Director to the management team in 2005.

The milestone of Executive Readiness is all about building women’s professional competence and confidence. This includes such efforts as the WFF’s second annual Executive Women’s Summit. More than 120 executive level women convened in Chicago in 2005 with industry leaders and experts in the field of executive and board readiness to have high-level dialogue on the skills and resources needed for women to advance. The WFF’s Annual Leadership Development Conference to be held next April 2-5 in Dallas, TX gathers the industry’s finest to improve leadership skills, understand the barriers for women in the industry and to experience some of the best networking in the industry.

The talent that is cultivated at the WFF and other organizations need to be matched with like-minded companies. As the largest employer outside of the government, with 12.2 million people on the payroll, foodservice includes some of the largest companies in the world. According to the National Restaurant Association, by 2014, industry employment is projected to be 13.5 million – an increase of 12%. Women currently represent 53% of the foodservice workforce, and that number is expected to jump to 62% by the year 2015. It is important to realize that companies can make a significant difference in the long-term growth and development of our industry by demanding greater gender diversity and challenging foodservice to thrive as a whole.

Bio:

Alice Wheelwright
Vice President Industry Marketing
Ecolab Inc.
Chair of The Women’s Foodservice Forum

Alice Wheelwright has built her career working with some of the biggest names in several industries - Ecolab Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, Nabisco Brands, and Oglivy & Mather. She has used her marketing and sales skills across a broad range of projects, from managing global customers to restructuring entire product lines.

Since joining Ecolab Inc., the leading global developer and marketer of cleaning and sanitation products and services in 1992, Alice Wheelwright has moved up quickly, achieving outstanding results with each new assignment. During her tenure at Ecolab, Ms. Wheelwright has managed a series of initiates to help customers build their company’s brand protection program, simplify their operations, control costs and improve food, employee and guest safety. Ms Wheelwright currently manages key strategic projects supporting Ecolab’s Circle the Customer strategy.

Ms. Wheelwright currently serves as Chair of the Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF), a nearly 2,200 member organization dedicated to the development and advancement of women leaders in the foodservice and hospitality industry. Her leadership is characterized by her ability to set a vision and strategic direction while employing her hands-on approach and dedication to execution. This includes mentoring, formally and informally, through her professional and Women’s Foodservice Forum relationships.

In addition to her WFF involvement, Ms. Wheelwright serves on the board of directors for the Pembroke Center for Gender Studies at Brown University. Ms. Wheelwright earned a B.A. in English and American Literature from Brown University and resides in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband Chris Nelson and cat Dollup.