Mandy Shaw

President & CEO Blaze Pizza

As president and CEO of Blaze Pizza, Mandy Shaw is a visionary that has not only contributed greatly to the explosive growth and success the company has experienced since her joining over four years ago, but has also made an impact on the fast-casual pizza category that has not gone unnoticed.

Shaw started her career with L.A.-based Blaze Pizza as the fast-casual chain’s chief financial officer in 2018 before taking over as president and CEO in November 2019. Under her leadership, 2019 became a groundbreaking year for the company. Blaze successfully launched a new cauliflower pizza crust, a new 14” large pizza engineered specifically for delivery and the pizza industry’s first keto crust, with only 6 grams of net carbs. In addition to the new food offerings, the brand strengthened its third party delivery by adding delivery partners and launching a new web platform with easier ordering capabilities.

With these new platforms already in place, Blaze Pizza was able to lean in and grow digital sales by more than 140% and made it through 2020 and 2021 stronger than ever, as systemwide sales returned to what they were prior to the pandemic. Blaze’s investments in curbside carryout, which was launched in a three-week cross-functional sprint, and the addition of a new thirdparty delivery partner in two weeks, helped the brand overcome the unprecedented challenges of COVID without slowing down its growth efforts. In the last two years, Blaze opened 40 restaurants in new and existing markets and signed multi-unit agreements with new and existing franchisees even during the pandemic.

Shaw has also worked to increase diversity and inclusion at Blaze by creating more career and hiring opportunities for women, people of color and LGBTQ+ team members. With one of Blaze’s core values being to “value the people behind the pizza,” she works to create an atmosphere of cross-functional training and opportunity at the company. Throughout 2022 and beyond, Shaw and her team will continue to implement ways to attract new employees in ways no other company is doing so.

FINALISTS | CEO OFTHE YEAR: LARGE COMPANY

Chief Medical Officer of Strategy Prime Healthcare

Kavitha Bhatia, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACHE is president and chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation and chief medical officer of strategy for Prime Healthcare. The Prime Healthcare Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity dedicated to improving healthcare through its hospitals and educational and charitable initiatives. Through Dr. Bhatia’s leadership, the foundation has provided more than $2 billion in charity care and sponsored initiatives, forwarding a mission of improving the lives of others. She develops and implements strategic initiatives that advance the mission.

Founder & CEO The ActOne Group

Janice Bryant Howroyd, the first African American woman to found a multibillion-dollar company, launched The ActOne Group in L.A. in 1978. The workforce and staffing solutions company has since provided millions of jobs across the globe. Operating in over 32 countries and 24 languages, ‘JBH’ leads with humanity, discipline and excellence instilled in her childhood, where she weathered a segregated education in the Deep South. She was appointed U.S. Ambassador of Energy in 2013 and in 2016 appointed by President Barack Obama to the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Global Brand President Too Faced Cosmetics

Tara Simon is a visionary strategic leader and brand builder with deep experience in prestige beauty and makeup, including consumer-focused brand development and management, sales and marketing, merchandising and emerging brands. Since joining Too Faced in August of 2020, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership in creating a global strategic framework to take Too Faced into the future while executing a winning strategy today. Simon is known for her collaborative, inclusive leadership style and strong business acumen within the areas of consumer-focused brand development and management.

Chief Executive Officer Citizens of Humanity

Amy Williams is the leader behind L.A.-based Citizens of Humanity Group, where you’ll find Citizens of Humanity, AGOLDE and GOLDSIGN. These three premium denim labels each boast a uniquely directional voice and are clearly carved in the denim market. Companywide, each brand is committed to being thoughtful in the creation of denim and uses advanced methods to reduce its imprint on the environment. This year, Williams shepherded and established a U.S.-based farming program for the company to produce regeneratively grown cotton for the brands.