For immediate release
Contact: Terry Hill, 202-628-8000
WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 11 – The International Franchise Association’s Diversity Institute has named three business leaders to join its board of directors. The appointments were made during recent Franchise Appreciation Day events in the nation’s capital, attended by nearly 550 members of the franchising community.
Newly-elected directors include ExxonMobil Corp. Franchise Recruiting Mgr. David “Corky” Calhoun, ADP Small Business Services Vice Pres. and Chief Diversity Officer Clyde Jones, and Rising Star Inc. (dba McDonald’s) CEO Phil Wilkins.
Calhoun is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Finance & Commerce. He played professional basketball in the National Basketball Association and was a member of the 1977 World Champion Portland Trailblazers. In his current role, he is responsible for recruiting qualified dealers and distributors to operate Exxon and Mobil service stations throughout the United States.
Jones is the vice president, chief diversity officer for ADP, one of the world’s largest providers of business outsourcing solutions. He has more than 25 years of experience promoting diversity and strategic human resources issues for companies including KPMG, LLP and Hoechst Celanese, now Aventis–Sanofi. At ADP he is responsible for driving a corporate-wide diversity strategy that fosters an inclusive work environment, aiming to leverage the diverse dimensions of each employee to support the company’s long-term growth objectives. Jones also serves on the corporate advisory board of Catalyst and the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting.
Wilkins owns four McDonald’s restaurants in Lexington, Ky. and is the author of “Own Your Business, Own Your Life!”. In addition to running his restaurants, he is a nationally known speaker and consultant on diversity and economic empowerment, and has earned his certification as a Diversity Professional from Cornell University.
The IFA Diversity Institute promotes and fosters diversity and inclusion within the franchising community. The institute provides information to assist IFA members in expanding their diversity recruitment and multi-cultural marketing efforts at all levels – franchisees, employees, suppliers, and consumers.
“By working with our partner organizations across the country, we hope to not only increase the numbers of minority franchisees, but to send the message to all communities that franchising is a smart and affordable way to realize the American Dream of small business ownership,” said John Reynolds, president of the IFA Educational Foundation.
Founded in 1960, IFA is the world’s largest trade group representing franchised-small businesses spanning 80 different industries doing business in more than 100 countries. Franchising plays a vital role in the nation’s economy, according to a study conducted for the IFA Educational Foundation by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The “Economic Impact of Franchised Businesses” study found that that there are more than 760,000 franchised small businesses in the U.S., generating more than 18 million jobs.
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