Hospitality Technology Announces its 2023 Top Women in Restaurant Technology Award Winners
Union Square Hospitality Group, Inspire Brands, TGI Fridays and Olo are among the companies employing this year’s honorees for outstanding achievement in restaurant technology.
Hospitality Technology (HT) magazine is pleased to announce the winners of its 2023 Industry Heroes and the 2023 Top Women in Restaurant Technology Awards. The 2023 awards program is sponsored by Paerpay.
"Recognizing the driving forces of excellence and innovation is pivotal in advancing the restaurant industry. We at Paerpay are privileged to play a role in honoring the Industry Heroes and Top Women in Restaurant Technology through our participation in the Awards program." says Derek Canton, CEO of Paerpay.
Now in its seventh year, the Top Women in Restaurant Technology Awards program honors outstanding women from both restaurants and technology suppliers for reimagining restaurant processes and operations while demonstrating excellence in leadership, inventiveness and skill.
"The achievements of these women and the bright future they hold in the technology sector is a reflection of their unwavering commitment to advancing our industry with passion, innovation, and visionary leadership," says Rolf Gehrung, CRO of Paerpay.
“The Top Women in Restaurant Technology awards program recognizes exceptional achievement among industry leaders, innovators, and rising stars,” adds Robert Firpo-Cappiello, editor-in-chief of Hospitality Technology magazine. “These professionals are not only responsible for digital transformation across the restaurant space but also for blazing a trail for other women — and people of all genders — to follow.”
The winners of the 2023 Top Women in Restaurant Technology Awards are:
Lifetime Achievement
Presented in recognition of a lifetime (more than 15 years) of service and accomplishments in the foodservice technology industry. We seek to honor women who have had an impact on the foodservice technology industry as well as their colleagues and industry peers through enthusiasm, mentorship and commitment, while also showing how technologies can provide new ways of doing things.
- Kathi Klein, VP of Hardware Solutions and Support, QSR Automations, Louisville, Ky.: Paying it Forward to the Next Generation
- Kelly MacPherson, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Supply Chain Officer, Union Square Hospitality Group, New York: Blending the Art & Science of Hospitality
- Brenda Parker, Partner, Results Thru Strategy, Charlotte, N.C.:
Uniting Operations with Technology
Innovators
Presented to women who are forward thinkers and who have executed on tools and strategy to transform the foodservice technology space in a positive manner by creating or deploying emerging technologies that reimagine how things are done while paving the way for future technologies.
- Carissa DeSantis, Chief Technology Officer for BRIX Holdings, Dallas:
Innovator Climbs the Ladder From Restaurant Ops to CTO - Jenna Keith-Birney, Director of Back of House and Above Store Technology, Taco Bell, Irvine, Calif.: Innovator Embraces Data to Drive Meaningful Change
- Brittany Maroney, Head of Marketing & Communications for PAR Technology, Phoenix;
Q&A with Top Women in Restaurant Technology Brittany Maroney - Deborah Matteliano, Global Head, Restaurant Technology at Amazon Web Services, New York; Innovator Channels Creativity Into Making Things Happen
- Priyanka Mehra, Director of Product Management, Olo, San Francisco, Calif.: Innovator Develops, Scales Payment Tech
- Meredith Sandland, CEO, Empower Delivery, Newport Beach, Calif.: Innovator Recognized for Focus, Passion for Delivery Efficiency
- Marcy Setter, Sr Product Manager - Restaurant Technology, Inspire Brands, Canton, Mass.: ‘Ultimate Team Player’ Oversees Massive POS Overhaul at 10K Locations
Rising Stars
Women from any level of an organization with less than five years' experience in the industry, who have demonstrated leadership and are making a mark in foodservice technology.
- Gabrielle Andrade, Senior Product Manager, Qwick, Scottsdale, Ariz.: Rising Star Embraces Solving Big & Interesting Problems with Restaurant Technology
- Lindsay Eichten, Director CRM, Loyalty and Media, TGI Fridays, Dallas; Taking the Reins to Build Guest Experiences
- Cynthia Hollen, CEO and co-founder, MAVI.io OnMyWay Commerce, Miami;
Rising Star is Driven by the Customer Experience - Beth Olson, Director of IT Restaurant Engagement, Inspire Brands, Atlanta, Ga.; Rising Star Makes a Positive Impact on Guest, Employee Experience
- Christine Schindler, Co-Founder & CEO at PathSpot, New York; Rising Star Leverages Tech to Target Foodborne Illnesses
Industry Heroes
Hospitality Technology also announces this year’s Industry Heroes. The Industry Heroes Awards recognize both restaurants and technology suppliers for exemplary contributions to the restaurant industry.
This year’s winners are:
- Checkers & Rally's for CAREs program, its support of No Kid Hungry, and its support to help underrepresented groups become franchisees.
- Leanpath for its contributions in reducing food waste
- Gigpro for its work on solving both sides of the labor crisis
- Giftameal for its gift-a-meal program
After an open call for nominations, the Industry Heroes and Top Women in Restaurant Technology Award winners were chosen by Hospitality Technology magazine and members of its Research Advisory Board. Winners will be profiled in Hospitality Technology and throughout the spring in digital profiles here at www.hospitalitytech.com/topwomen23 and here at hospitalitytech.com/industryheroes23.
The winners will be announced and honored during an awards program during the 28th annual MURTEC (Multi-Unit Restaurant Technology Conference), March 6-8, at The Paris in Las Vegas.
About Paerpay
Paerpay is an integrated contactless payments system for restaurants that enables guests to instantly pay the bill from their phone without downloading an app or requiring them to change their hardware or credit card processor. We make payments as simple as a text message. To learn more about Paerpay, visit www.paerpay.com.
About Hospitality Technology
Hospitality Technology (HT) is the only publication dedicated to covering the role of information technology in improving business performance for both hotel and restaurant operators. The Hospitality Technology editorial portfolio reaches more than 16,000 hospitality industry executives, three networking and educational events (MURTEC, MURTEC Executive Summit and Hotel Technology Forum), a comprehensive website, e-newsletters, web seminars, and several exclusive annual reports and studies. Hospitality Technology is the parent brand of the Restaurant Technology Network (www.restauranttechnologynetwork.com), a membership community of restaurants and suppliers working together to solve industry challenges by shaping standards and sharing best practices. Visit Hospitality Technology online at www.hospitalitytech.com. Hospitality Technology is published by EnsembleIQ, headquartered in Chicago.
