Bill Anderson

Senior Vice President, Noncommercial Foodservice

Winsight

In addition to his Publishing duties, Bill is Conference Director for the MenuDirections Conference at Winsight Media & Events. Prior to his foodservice media career, he worked in foodservice distribution and foodservice manufacturing. Bill is a member of AHF, NACUFS and SHFM and is a current member of  AHF’s Industry Advisory Board. He is a current member of Trinity Health System’s Food & Nutrition Advisory Council.

Bill is a graduate of Carthage College in Kenosha, WI with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.

Pat Cobe

Senior Editor

Restaurant Business, FoodService Director

Pat plans and executes the menu innovation, food and drink content for Winsight’s foodservice digital platforms and podcasts. Pat is also editor of the weekly Recipe Report and On the Menu e-newsletters and oversees the 50-member Culinary Council made up of chefs from all segments of foodservice. She is an active member of both the Chicago and New York chapters of Les Dames d’Escoffier and is a judge for the James Beard Journalism Awards.

Ron DeSantis (CMC)

Founder

CulinaryNXT

As Chief Culinary Officer, Ron DeSantis is Hungry Planet’s culinary voice, advocating and leading customer-centric food innovation and execution. Ron provides leadership and support for Hungry Planet in recipe and menu development, new product R&D, and leads a culinary team to create a competitive advantage.

Early Career and The Culinary Institute of America

Certified Master Chef Ron DeSantis is at heart a passionate culinarian. In his 25-year career at the CIA, Ron taught several courses including a 4-year stint running a full-service teaching restaurant, the CIA’s flagship 4-star Escoffier Restaurant.  While at the CIA, Ron was promoted to associate dean for curriculum and developed curriculum for degree programs and for professional education.  Following Ron’s work as associate dean he accepted a position as Director of Education Services. Ron’s responsibilities were the planning and design of teaching kitchens and bakeshops. In 2005 Ron helped launch CIA Consulting, eventually rising to lead this consulting organization. 

Yale

Ron’s primary responsibility was overseeing the production of over 14,000 meals each day at Yale. This leadership role included culinary concept design, development of innovative menus and cuisine and training of the culinary team. In addition to undergraduate dining, Ron also oversees food production for several university restaurants, cafes, C-stores, and Yale Catering. As the first Certified Master Chef to enter college & university dining, Ron has changed the format for delivering students meals.  His approach has been to think and act like a great independent restaurant in a multi-operational institutional environment.

Industry Achievements

A 1981 CIA alumnus, Ron has received many citations during his professional career, including the highly regarded certification as a master chef (C.M.C.) by the American Culinary Federation (ACF). In 2010 Ron co-authored “Modern Batch Cookery” with Certified Master Chef Victor Gielisse, DBA.  Ron also holds a master’s in business administration (MBA) from Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Lisa Eberhart

Director of Nutrition and Co-founder

Menu Analytics

Lisa Eberhart is a Registered Dietitian, Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist, and Certified Diabetes Educator.  Lisa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Institution Management and Dietetics from Iowa State University. Lisa has over 25 years’ experience working as a registered dietitian, 13 of which were full-time with NC State University. Lisa and her team helped NC State Dining become a leader in nutrition and wellness, excelling in technology, food management systems, and ingredient transparency. 

While at NC State, Lisa and Randy Lait, 2019 Silver Plate winner, created a company called Menu Analytics. Lisa now works full time with Menu Analytics LLC, a consulting company that helps restaurants and other food services provide accurate nutrition and allergy information to their customers.  

As Director of Nutrition and Nutritional Wellness at North Carolina State University, Lisa led efforts that allowed the university to achieve recognition as Top 15 Healthiest Non-Commercial Food Services by Food Service Director magazine, one of the 26 Healthiest Campuses in the Nation and one of the top 10 allergy friendly colleges in the nation. Her proudest achievement has been that NC State was the first university in the nation to achieve all of the goals of the Partnership for a Healthier America, Healthy College Initiative 

Lisa has served in the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS), including roles as National Conference Education Co-Chair, Regional Conference Education Chair, National Nutrition Committee Chair 

Benita Gingerella

Editor

FoodService Director

Benita is an Editor for FoodService Director and has been with the publication since 2016. In addition to covering various sectors of the noncommercial industry, Benita is also responsible for several of the magazine's most beloved sections, including Steal This Idea and The Line. In her spare time, Benita is an avid restaurant-goer and loves to travel extensively

Kelsey Nash

Editor-in-Chief

FoodService Director

Kelsey Nash is Editor-in-Chief of FoodServiceDirector.com. Prior to joining Winsight Media's foodservice group, she specialized in B2B creative across a number of industries, including financial services, foodservice, construction and insurance.

She has yet to meet a burger she doesn’t like.