Iwona Alter

COO at The Habit Burger & Grill

Speaker

Iwona Alter is the Chief Operating Officer for Habit Burger & Grill, Yum! Brands. She leads field operations, guest relations, ops services, facilities, and restaurant excellence. Iwona assumed the COO role in December of 2022 after four years as Habit’s CMO. She successfully transitioned into her current role and is quickly driving positive change and meaningful efficiencies. Her growth minded leadership and passion for the business uphold the legacy of operational strength that has defined Habit. Iwona’s understanding of the restaurant business and her builder mentality drive Habit’s restaurant operating model evolution to position it for growth and scale. She has transformed the labor model through introducing tech and operations focused processes to support the existing and new operators. Iwona has been a champion for advancement of female leaders at Habit and throughout her career. In her prior role, as Habit’s CMO, Iwona built a talented marketing team and created a foundation for modern marketing. She led many brand firsts such as the first-ever advertising campaign, introduction of consumer insights, and establishing digital marketing. Before joining Habit, she was Chief Marketing Officer at Jack in the Box, where she also held leadership positions in innovation and field operations. Her business experience also includes various domestic and international marketing roles with organizations such as J. Walter Thompson Advertising, Johnson & Johnson Poland, Shiseido Cosmetics, and Elmer’s Glue. As co-chair of No Kid Hungry Advisory Board she is passionate about eliminating childhood hunger. Alter is a graduate of Fordham University in New York with a Master’s in Business Administration. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baruch College in New York and Warsaw School of Economics in Poland.