Name: Sarah Cannon-Foster

New title: Chief people officer, Dine Brands

Previous title: Vice president, human resources, U.S. healthcare, Walgreens Boots Alliance

Cannon-Foster brings over 30 years of human resources experience to her role at Dine Brands, which is effective April 17, the company announced in a press release Tuesday. While she worked at Walgreens Boots Alliance, she led several initiatives, which included supporting all functions of the company’s new business segment, U.S. Healthcare, “a technology-enabled care model designed to bring equitable and personalized healthcare to local communities across America.” 

In addition to WBA, Cannon-Foster worked for nearly 20 years at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, now Marriott International. In that position, she oversaw the direction of HR for over 16,000 employees within 57 hotels in the western U.S. She also co-created Starwood’s development program, which focuses on career development for women and people of color so they can enter general manager and executive committee roles. 

At Dine Brands, Cannon-Foster’s objectives will be to focus on unlocking the full potential of Dine Brands employees. Within her first 100 days, she will “focus on understanding the fabric of the brands, collaborating with leadership and ultimately, identifying areas where the team can grow and develop its talent,” the company said.

Additionally, she will establish relationships across Dine Brands teams, franchisees and restaurant employees and find ways HR can best ‘accelerate the company’s overall goals.”