2024 Bio Update
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2024 Bio Update 2
Brad Smith was named President, International & Franchising in May 2024. In this role, Brad is responsible for international operations and franchise strategy, development and execution.
Brad is a seasoned restaurant executive with nearly 40 years of experience leading diverse restaurant segments in domestic and international companies. He began his career as a General Manger with Olive Garden in Lubbock, Texas. After that, he held various positions of increasing responsibility for Johnny Carino’s Country Italian restaurants, including Regional Operations Manager and International Director of Operations. In 2002, he joined Tony Roma’s as Senior Director of Operations. Over the next 14 years, he served as Vice President of Franchise Operations, Senior Vice President of Franchise Operations and Training, and ultimately Chief Operating Officer.
In 2017, Brad joined Darden as Vice President of International Development before progressing to his previous role as Senior Vice President of Global Franchising where he was responsible for all nontraditional Darden restaurants including US airport locations and all international franchising.
June 2024 Asset Update
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Dan Kiernan was named President of Olive Garden in January 2018. Dan, who is also a member of Darden Restaurants’ Executive Team, leads a company with more than 900 restaurants, 100,000 team members and more than $4.5 billion in annual sales.
Prior to his current role, Dan served as Executive Vice President of Operations for Olive Garden for more than six years. In this role, Dan’s unique ability to clarify and simplify complex information led to an enhanced, operations-focused culture at Olive Garden. His people-first approach to management helped drive significant business results for Olive Garden while leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness.
Dan began his career with Olive Garden in 1992 as a Manager in Training and worked his way up through the operations system – moving from General Manager, to Director of Operations, to Senior Vice President of the Chicago Division before assuming his most recent role.
Prior to joining Olive Garden, Dan spent 13 years with Marie Callender’s holding various operations positions.
Darden 2024 Impact Report
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