CHART to Honor FOCUS Brands Kat Cole with its 2018 Commitment to People Award

Kat will be honored at the Commitment to People Awards Gala on Monday evening, July 30, during CHART’s 96th Hospitality Training Conference to be held at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, FL.

WESTFIELD, NJ, July 23, 2018 – The Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) today announced that Kat Cole, COO & President, North America, FOCUS Brands, is the recipient of its 2018 Commitment to People Award. Kat will be honored at the Commitment to People Awards Gala on Monday evening, July 30, during CHART’s 96th Hospitality Training Conference to be held at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, FL.

“The award is very meaningful for us this year as Kat is a former long-time member of CHART," explained Michele Lange, CHART president and director of training and development of The Habit Burger Grill. “In CHART, we help trainers become better business partners, learning strategists, and culture cultivators. We talk a lot about trainers securing a ‘seat at the strategic table,’ so it is fantastic to see a female role model who started in CHART early on in their career now leading in an organization like FOCUS Brands.”

FOCUS Brands has six different cultures, and Kat ensures that each of the brands keeps its own culture, and that the culture grows through people. In the award application, Kat’s team offered many examples of her care for people, including her travel across the globe to give of herself and help others. Kat inspires people to always “begin with positive intent” and to “think like a franchise partner” rather than just from the corporate view. She is known for building positive relationships with the franchise community.

“I have a long history with CHART,” Kat said in her videotaped acceptance speech. “CHART was my first ever professional organization. I hope I continue to honor CHART by making that commitment to people and commitment to training and development a priority as I go on to lead organizations.”

Created in 1993, this prestigious award is given annually to a CHART member’s CEO/president in the hospitality industry who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to the development of his or her associates.

CHART’s Selection Committee reviews and ranks the Commitment to People nominees in four categories:

The past recipients of this prestigious award can be found on CHART’s website at: http://www.chart.org/membership-and-community/awards-and-scholarships.html

Contact: Lisa Marovec, 312.405.2634, lisa@chart.org

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CHART (chart.org), a non-profit professional association founded in 1970, is the leading resource for the development and advancement of hospitality training professional and their organizations. With more than 500 members from more than 300 multi-unit restaurant and hotel companies, CHART represents a workforce of almost three million. CHART includes all facets of hospitality training, learning, and performance professionals; from entry level to senior executive. CHART’s mission is to develop hospitality training professionals to improve performance through access to networks, education, and resources. Follow CHART on Twitter at @CHARTtrainers.