Lucy Brady, who most recently oversaw a $5 billion grocery-and-snacks portfolio at Conagra Brands, joined GoTo Foods as President of Jamba on September 8, the Atlanta-based franchisor confirmed. The hire is part of a broader leadership restructuring that simultaneously elevates three internal executives across Moe's Southwest Grill, Cinnabon, Carvel and the company's digital and technology operations.
Brady's Mandate at Jamba
Brady's background spans two consumer-facing giants. At Conagra, she led more than 60 brands in the Grocery & Snacks division. Before that, she held senior roles at McDonald's spanning strategy, innovation and digital customer experience, where she contributed to the build-out of MyMcDonald's Rewards, McDelivery and digital ordering — the kind of platforms now central to franchise-system competitiveness. At Jamba, she will own brand strategy and operations, working directly with franchisees and restaurant teams to sharpen the chain's positioning and develop new growth occasions. "Jamba is one of those rare brands that is instantly recognizable," Brady said. "I am excited to work alongside our brand, franchisee and restaurant teams to make Jamba even more relevant to today's guests, expand the occasions we serve and deliver an exceptional experience every time."
Portfolio-Wide Shifts
GoTo Foods also reorganized leadership across three other areas of its seven-brand system, which operates more than 7,500 locations across all 50 states and 72 countries and territories. Nathan Baldwin, who has led Auntie Anne's since joining the company in 2025, moves into an expanded role as President of Specialty Brands, adding Cinnabon, Carvel and the company's co-brands strategy to his remit. Baldwin brings more than 25 years of restaurant industry experience to a portfolio that shares complementary physical footprints and development models — a structure GoTo Foods believes can improve franchisee profitability across all three brands.
Chief Growth Officer Francisco Bram adds the presidency of Moe's Southwest Grill to his existing enterprise responsibilities, which include loyalty, marketing, consumer research, analytics, PR and social media. His central task at Moe's will be advancing a reimagination of the brand's positioning and translating that work into menu and in-restaurant experience. Bram previously held leadership roles at Chewy, Albertsons Companies, Uber and Siemens.
Biplav Misra, who had overseen Technology on an interim basis for several months, formally becomes Chief Digital & Technology Officer, consolidating digital, technology and off-premise functions under a single leader. The consolidation is designed to accelerate the build and deployment of guest- and franchisee-facing technology across all seven brands. Misra has more than 20 years of experience scaling digital businesses and ecommerce platforms, including prior tenures at Albertsons Companies and Amazon.
What It Means for Franchisees
CEO Omer Gajial framed the moves as a deliberate effort to sharpen organizational agility at a moment when multi-unit franchise operators are under pressure to deliver consistent digital experiences and stronger unit economics. "Strengthening our leadership structure will create greater organizational agility and allow us to remain focused on what matters most: growing category-leading brands, supporting franchisee success, and delivering experiences that keep guests coming back," Gajial said. For franchisees across the GoTo Foods system, the clearest near-term signal is that each major brand cluster now has a dedicated president accountable for performance — a structural shift that reduces the leadership diffusion common in large portfolio companies and brings executive attention closer to individual brand needs. The convergence of digital, technology and off-premise under Misra also positions the platform to deploy unified guest-engagement tools more quickly, a competitive priority across the broader foodservice franchise landscape.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
