CHICAGO, December 10, 2025 — IFMA The Food Away from Home Association oversees five Foodservice Operator Councils (FLCs) that are made up of 150+ operator individuals. The councils represent the major segments of foodservice: K – 12 Schools, College & University, Business & Industry, Healthcare, and Restaurants.
The leadership of each council has recently been announced for 2026.
Each FLC executive committee member is nominated by and voted on by council peers. The executive committees provide strategic direction and insight into the work the councils do throughout the year and help maintain each council charter.
FLCs share insights and important issues facing their segments with one another and with association members through webinar conversations, creating reports and guidebooks, and by presentations at our events. FLC leaders are often called upon to consult with the association’s staff and board on major topics.
2026 FLC Executive Committee Leadership
Business & Industry - with an annual buying power of $6.1B
Chair: Bernice Radaideh, Bank of America
Vice Chair: Nathan Phillips, JLL
Second Vice Chair: Nate Carney, Exact Sciences
Past Chair: Dan Cramer, CHUBB
Past Chair: Kristine Cotton, JLL
Colleges & Universities - with an annual buying power of $10.3B
Chair: Jeff Palmer, UC – San Diego
Vice Chair: Dustin Cutler, Cornell University
Second Vice Chair: Cheryl Fabrizi, Syracuse University
Past Chairs: Peter Testory, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Betsy Helgesen, University of Minnesota, Duluth
K - 12 Schools - with an annual buying power of $13.1B
Chair: Danielle Bock, Greeley (CO) Public Schools
Vice Chair: Christine Clarahan, Crown Point (IN) Community Schools
Second Vice Chair: Dana Whitney, Henrico County (VA) Public Schools
Past Chairs: Whitney Ellersick, Hillsboro (OR) School District and Alyssia Wright, Fulton (GA) Public Schools
Healthcare - with an annual buying power of $16.9B
Chair: Matt Tremblay, Northbridge Communities
Vice Chair: Kevin Steffes, Carle Foundation
Second Vice Chair: Erica Block, Rush University Medical Center
Past Chairs: Michael Vetro, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Restaurants - with an annual buying power of $202.2B
Chair: Rebecca Hurst, The Cheesecake Factory
Vice Chair: Sarah Stewart-Schultze, International Dairy Queen
Second Vice Chair: Matt Jalove, HTeaO
Past Chairs: Aaron Weedy, Ledo Pizza and Phil Altieri, Wings and Rings
“We depend upon our FLCs for helping maintain our critical understanding of the strengths and challenges within each foodservice segment” said Phil Kafarakis, IFMA The Food Away from Home's President & CEO. “We are committed to ‘empower, nurture, and connect the food-away-from-home ecosystem’ as expressed in our Purpose Statement. The FLCs share that mandate with us and are tireless advocates for a connected and collaborative food-away-from-home industry.”
The Association is proud to have these remarkable industry leaders and all the participants in our FLCs as members. We look forward to working closely with them throughout 2026!