Rachel is the Founding Principal of Alkon & Co., a boutique strategic communications firm specializing in food and sustainability.

Prior, Rachel was the Head of Communications and Public Affairs at Bowery Farming, the largest U.S. vertical farming company, and led global public affairs at Whole Foods Market. Earlier in her career, she was a Director at Brunswick Group, a reputation management firm, and advised clients, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, The Gates Foundation, and PepsiCo. Rachel earned a Master’s in Food Systems and Policy from New York University and a B.A. in English with Honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Brent is the Founder of Aperture Strategies, a foodservice and facilities growth advisory practice.

Previously, Brent was Chief Transformation Officer at Sodexo North America where he led the COVID recovery and subsequent growth acceleration -- modernizing commercial operations and launching Sodexo's Data & AI Products business.

Brent has spent his career in food and professional services, including revenue operations at Georgia-Pacific and management consulting at Oliver Wyman. He is passionate about the role that food, nutrition, and physical activity can play in helping people thrive.

Outside of work, Brent is a competitive ultramarathoner and triathlete. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Georgia.

Nicola is Vice President of Marketing Intelligence & Insights at Early Warning, where she is establishing a unified marketing intelligence and insights function — integrating and elevating capabilities across measurement, consumer insights, and data-driven decision making. She has spent 20+ years working in strategy, marketing, product development, advertising, and insights functions across financial services and CPG industries. In Nicola's 16 years at American Express, Nicola worked across a range of domestic and global roles spanning Global Corporate Services, Global Merchant & Network Services, and Global Advertising & Brand Management

Nicola holds an MBA from London Business School, a Bachelor of Science in Science and Business from the University of Waterloo, and an Executive Coaching certification from Baruch College.

Chanel is the Founder and CEO of CJC Insights, an award-winning strategic communications and public relations agency headquartered in New York City. She puts brands and thought leaders on the map and counsels businesses on communications and press strategies. She is a builder and storyteller with a passion for partnering with female founders and BIPOC and minority-owned businesses. Chanel is a contributor for Fast Company and on the Advisory Board for the Wall Street Journal's Women in the Workplace Series, helping to curate national events and conversations around the future of women and work. Previously, Chanel was the Director of Corporate Communications at Viacom and also spent time in media relations for ABC News and for Unilever. Chanel was named to the Forbes Next 1000 list, The Observer’s PR Power 50 List, and received the 2020 ADCOLOR Change Agent Award for using her talents to enhance corporate cultures and create more inclusive industries. Her work has been covered in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, Ad Age, PR News, and more. She graduated from Fordham University and received her MPA specializing in Management and Policy from New York University.

Sarah Diehl is the Founder and Principal of Empowered Hospitality, an HR consulting and recruiting agency specializing in the hospitality industry. Sarah began her career in restaurant operations before pivoting to lead the people function for a chef-driven restaurant group in New York City. After her position was eliminated in 2016, Sarah realized that many small hospitality businesses desperately needed HR guidance but lacked the resources or know-how to hire an HR Director. Sarah instinctively turned many of her initial interviews into HR strategy sessions, and Empowered Hospitality was born. Today, Empowered Hospitality has a team of 30 full-time HR and talent experts supporting hundreds of companies and thousands of employees across the US. Sarah earned her bachelor’s in political science with honors from Yale University and was selected as a 2021 Tory Burch Foundation Fellow for her passion for building an equitable, collaborative, and socially conscious small business. Sarah is also a public speaker on topics related to people, business strategy, and women in leadership for hospitality organizations such as the James Beard Foundation, the New York State Restaurant Association, the FAB conference, and the New York Restaurant Show. When her 'HR hat' is off, Sarah is mom to two babies under 2, an avid hiker and city walker, and explorer of the NYC restaurant scene.

Read Nancy's full bio here.

(Treasurer) Allison serves as the Head for Spencer Stuart’s Banking and Markets practice. Allison began her career as a search consultant in 2021 after taking several years away from full-time work to stay home and raise her young family. Prior to that, Allison spent nearly fifteen years as an investment banker and markets professional, with her early career spent at Morgan Stanley, followed by nearly a decade at Goldman Sachs. While at Goldman, Allison served on the firm’s LGBT Network Sterring Committee, developing and implementing its LGBT Ally Strategy which won the Human Rights Campaign Innovation Award for Workplace Equality. During her time away from Wall Street, Allison combined her business acumen and longtime involvement in the fitness community to advise several digital and brick-and-mortar fitness businesses. She is an avid skier, tennis player and overall fitness junky which is in part what drew her to WITS.

Born and raised in Montreal, Allison received a BA in Business Administration with Honors from the University of Western Ontario, and lives in Manhattan with her two children.

Danielle Lajoie is the Vice President of Communications, Brand, and Experience at Exos, a global human performance company. Danielle is a communications and social impact leader with close to 20 years of experience helping organizations connect brand, purpose, and culture from the inside out. There, she leads internal and external communications, events, partnerships and founded the company’s first social impact program, Coach for Good, which expands access to health and human performance resources.

Danielle’s career has focused on working within Fortune 100 organizations to translate values into action through storytelling, employee engagement, and community-driven programming. Prior to Exos, Danielle held communications, culture, and community impact roles at Converse, Nike, JetBlue, and Whole Foods Market, where she led communications for company transformations, employee engagement strategies, product launches, and purpose-driven initiatives.

David is a Managing Partner, Global Hospitality & Leisure at DHR Global, in the New York office. He brings three decades of experience in executive search, compensation consulting, and strategic advisory services for the restaurant, hospitality, and franchise industries. Recognized as a trusted partner to private equity firms, family offices, and owner-operators, David has built deep relationships with senior decision-makers and industry leaders across these sectors.

His expertise in identifying and placing top-tier C-suite talent is complemented by his firsthand operational experience as a co-founder of a multi-unit restaurant group that owns Jersey Mike’s franchises and earlier in his career working in hotel operations. As a result, David understands the leadership qualities, strategic acumen, and operational challenges that drive success in restaurant, hotel and franchise businesses.

Before joining DHR, David was a Senior Partner at a global executive search firm, where he led hospitality-focused executive search, compensation consulting and strategic advisory initiatives. Previously, he was a co-founder and Managing Director of a global advisory firm, serving the hotel, gaming, and travel technology industries. Earlier in his career, David held leadership roles at a global executive search firm, specializing in the hospitality sector.

David has authored industry leading compensation studies and is considered a go-to source for C-suite compensation data and total rewards design. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Hartford.

(Chairman) Nick is the CEO of Founders Table Restaurant Group and Chop’t Creative Salad Company, the leader of the premium salad segment with over 40 restaurants in New York, Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland. Under his leadership, Chop’t is committed to changing the future of “fast food.” Nick became the lead investor at Chop't in 2005, through his investment fund, GrowthPoint Restaurants. He is also the lead investor and Executive Chairman of Mendocino Farms, a twelve-unit fast casual sandwich chain based in Los Angeles, CA. Earlier in his career, Nick was President and Chief Operating Officer of Cosi Restaurants. He graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1990.

Brian Meyer is a partner at AirGC, a law firm providing fractional general counsel services to investment managers, family offices and private equity portfolio companies. With over 30 years of expertise in legal, compliance, and operations, Brian is recognized for driving strategic business initiatives, managing complex transactions, and delivering tangible results in the investment management space. As Co-Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Fir Tree Partners, Brian played a pivotal role in overseeing the firm’s strategic direction and operational functions as assets under management grew to $13 billion during his tenure. He has extensive experience in fund formation, corporate governance, management company operations, digital assets, artificial intelligence, and tax optimization structures across jurisdictions globally. Beyond his operational role, Brian’s leadership in investment strategy has been instrumental in securing substantial investor recoveries, including multi-billion dollar outcomes from RMBS “putback” litigation.

Brian’s innovative approach to legal operations has led to award-winning novel, technology-driven upgrades to legal and compliance. His prior experience includes executive roles at Veronis Suhler Stevenson, The Official Information Company, Revlon, Inc., where he handled M&A, securities, and financings. Brian began his career as a corporate associate at Latham and Milbank.

(Chief Athletic Officer) DeMarco is currently the Running Backs Coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. DeMarco is a retired NFL Running Back who played for the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans. He currently serves as the Running Backs Coach at his Alma Mater, Oklahoma University and is an active Entrepreneur & Investor in a variety of different industries and sectors, including Food, Agriculture, Real Estate, Sport Tech / Ecommerce. DeMarco graduated from OU in 2010 with a degree in communication and a minor in African-American studies. After an historic collegiate and then heavily decorated seven-year NFL career (3x Pro Bowl, 2015 Player of the Year, All Pro, etc.), DeMarco retired from the NFL in 2018. Shortly after announcing his retirement, DeMarco set his sights on broadcasting, securing a full time position as in game color Analyst for FOX Sports. With an inherent passion for health and fitness, DeMarco sought to invest and grow the national salad chain, Chopt, a Creative Salad Company based in NYC as well as serving as an advisor on the Seventy Six Capital Athlete Venture Group. DeMarco lives in Norman, OK with his wife and two kids.

(Secretary) Craig is the Global Head of Family Capital at Blackstone. Craig joined Blackstone after 15 years at Goldman Sachs where he was most recently vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and co-head of the Global Client Business responsible for global sales and client relationship management for all institutional and retail client assets. Craig serves on the Board of Directors of Wellness in the Schools, a national nonprofit that creates healthier environments for children, and the Evans Scholars Foundation, a national nonprofit that awards full tuition and housing college scholarships to golf caddies. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Industrial and Operations Engineering department at the University of Michigan. Craig earned a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Jamie currently serves as the Managing Director of New Markets at Apollo. Jamie joined Apollo in 2026 in New Markets and is responsible for leading US Asset Manager coverage. Prior to that time, Jamie was a Managing Director in Global Markets at UBS from May 2018 to October 2025. Prior to that, Jamie was at Goldman Sachs from July 1999 to May 2018. She initially joined the GSAM division and moved over to Securities Division where she became a Managing Director in 2010. Jamie currently serves on the Boards of Directors and Finance Committee of Wellness in the Schools. Jamie graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Foreign Affairs and Spanish, where she also ran Cross Country and Track & Field. She currently resides in Cold Spring Harbor, NY with her husband and 4 children.

Read Bill's full bio here.

Troy is co-head of the Americas Third Party Wealth (TPW) business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Prior to assuming his current role, he was co-head of the Americas Retail Client Business, head of Key Accounts and Platform Development, and national sales manager of the Investment Consulting Group in US Third Party Distribution. Troy previously held various management positions in US Third Party Distribution and US Institutional Distribution, including co-head of the Public Funds Group and head of Registered Investment Advisor Distribution. He joined Goldman Sachs as a regional sales director in Third Party Distribution within Goldman Sachs Asset Management in 1997. Troy was named managing director in 2008 and partner in 2022. Prior to joining the firm, Troy spent five years in asset management distribution for Federated Investors and Bankers Trust Global Investors.

Troy is chair emeritus of the Board of Governors of the Money Management Institute and serves on its Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Distribution Council of the Investment Management Education Alliance and the Sales and Marketing Committee of the Investment Company Institute. Troy also chairs the advisory board of The Pennsylvania State University Educational Equity Program.

Dana currently serves as the Managing Director at Aprio Advisory Group. Dana is a veteran accounting and finance professional with over 20 years of experience serving the restaurant industry. She has led tax compliance, financial reporting, cash flow analysis, and advisory services for restaurant operators, and played a key role in scaling restaurants. Dana is also a recognized industry thought leader, having created and hosted a podcast on restaurant trends named among the best for restaurant owners by Kickfin, and founded the Restaurant CFO Bootcamp, an intensive training program for restaurant leaders. She currently serves on the boards of Branded Strategic Hospitality and LoopAI, and volunteers with City Harvest and The Giving Kitchen.

Dana earned a BS in Accounting from the University of Florida and an MBA from Baruch College.