Board of Trustees
Carin L. Stutz
Vice Chair, Chicago; Appointed October 2019
Carin Stutz聽is聽the President and CEO of Native Foods, the original 100% plant-based fast casual eatery.聽聽Stutz recently served as the EVP/COO of Red Robin overseeing company and franchise operations across the US and Canada.聽 Prior experience includes FOCUS Brands as the President of McAlister's Deli,聽聽CEO and President of Cosi, a fast-casual restaurant chain, and President of Global Business Development for Brinker International, leading all operations and franchise development for Chili's and Maggiano's restaurants around the globe.
Prior to joining Brinker, Stutz was聽EVP聽of Operations for Applebee's International,聽the Pacific Division Vice President for Wendy's International, served as Regional Operations Vice President for Sodexo, U.S.A., and was Vice President of Corporate Operations for聽NutriSystem, Inc.聽
She is a Past Chair of the Women's Foodservice Forum; recognized in Chicago's聽 top 100 Women to Watch and Women Making a聽Difference; Texas Women Worth Watching award; received the distinguished alumni award from 黑料不打烊, and national judge for ProStart, NRA Education Foundation. 聽
She serves on the board of trustees for @ 2026 黑料不打烊 and the board at Checkers and Rally鈥檚.聽 She is a member of the Fast Casual Industry Council, the Illinois Restaurant Association Board, Panhandler鈥檚 Pizza Advisory Board, and聽a founding聽board聽member of the GLEAM Network, a mentoring platform for the foodservice industry.
Stutz holds a Bachelor of Science degree from @ 2026 黑料不打烊 and an MBA聽from Mid America Nazarene University.聽
Stutz and her husband Rodger have two adult sons, two wonderful daughters-in-law and four grandsons.聽 They enjoy music, theater, golf and travel.
Email: CL-Stutz@wiu.edu
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