Lisa Ingram
President & CEO
White Castle
Lisa Ingram is President and CEO of White Castle System, Inc. Lisa is the fourth Ingram family member to serve as President of the iconic company – the nation’s first fast food chain founded in 1921. Lisa is also a member of the White Castle Board of Directors.
Lisa’s career has been focused on creating value for her family business through strategic planning, revitalizing an iconic brand, balancing team member contributions while delivering on results, and injecting innovation into the daily culture.
In her role as President and CEO, Lisa oversees the entire company strategic and P&L execution. The company has 380 company owned restaurants in the Midwest and East Coast as well as a retail products division that sells White Castle burgers in grocery stores, club stores and convenience stores nationwide. In addition, the company has 5 manufacturing plants that supply all the meat and buns to the restaurant and retail divisions to ensure quality production and food safety.
Prior to joining White Castle in 2000, Lisa worked for a computer supplies wholesale distributor doing purchasing, new product development and marketing management. Lisa also worked for US Senator John Glenn during a college internship and for Hewlett Packard on a European Channel strategy during her MBA internship.
Lisa is active in the Columbus community and currently serves as Chair of the United Way of Central Ohio Board and serves on the OhioHealth Board as Chair of Quality of Care Committee. Lisa is also a board member/advisory board member of several smaller companies including Homage, Hot Chicken Takeover, Acre, and Common Cider Company. In addition, Lisa served on the board of the National Restaurant Association for 4 years and is currently a member of the Columbus Partnership.
Lisa received her BBA degree from Southern Methodist University and her MBA from The Ohio State University. In 2004, Lisa was named by Business First for their “40 under 40 award”. In 2014, Lisa received the Go Beyond Award from the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University for her contributions to the community. In addition, Lisa was a member of the 2014 Smart50 class honored by Smart Business Magazine where she also won the Innovation Award. In 2016, Lisa received the CHART Commitment to People Award, and was honored by ColumbusCEO magazine as the 2016 CEO of the Year for large for-profit companies. In 2017, Lisa received the Honorary Eagle Scout Award and the Golden Chain Award.
SESSIONS
Succession as a Team Effort – Panelist
Whether the next CEO will be a family or a non-family member, it takes a village to get the new leader up to speed. In addition to the retiring chief executive, those who play important roles include the executive team, the family council and the board. Panelists will discuss the role played by each of these constituencies, and why these roles are important.