US restaurant franchise business GoTo Foods has hired Ama Romaine as general counsel, filling the seat left empty by the departure of Sarah Powell last year.
Romaine joins from asset management firm Pretium, where she was head of government relations and public policy. She brings almost two decades of senior legal and executive leadership in the hospitality and real estate sectors, with expertise supporting franchise systems and multi-unit businesses.
At GoTo Foods she will help support its commercial strategy and operational and governance capabilities for its franchisees. She will join its executive leadership team and oversee a team of lawyers, paralegals, contract managers and franchise admin staff.
Atlanta-based GoTo Foods is restaurant franchising business, with brands including Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon and Schlotzsky’s.
Omer Gajial, CEO at GoTo Foods, said: “Ama brings a powerful combination of franchise, governance and operational expertise that will help strengthen our enterprise as we continue scaling the GoTo Foods portfolio and supporting long-term franchisee success.
“Her experience leading complex organisations and building strong operational and compliance foundations will be instrumental as we continue driving disciplined growth, enhancing franchisee returns and positioning the business for the future.”
Romaine arrives after nine months at Pretium, having previously been GC at its subsidiary Progress Residential and GC of Blackstone’s real estate asset management business. Prior to that she was chief legal officer at motel-operator G6 Hospitality and GC at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
She also had senior in-house roles at Hilton Worldwide and Choice Hotels International.
She started her career in private practice at White & Case before later moving to Morrison Foerster.
Powell, meanwhile, left to join gym chain Planet Fitness in November last year. She spent more than a decade at GoTo Foods, having previously spent 13 years as GC at car parts retailer Advance Auto Parts.
In other restaurant-related moves, back in January Mexican food chain Chipotle promoted its human resources head Ilene Eskenazi to CLO, bringing expertise from her time leading the legal teams at Petco, Boardriders and Red Bull North America.
And in March last year, Domino’s Pizza promoted assistant GC Ryan Mulally to the GC role, replacing Kevin Morris.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
