Beatrice Stein
founder & program director
Beatrice Stein has been in the business of hospitality for more than three decades, creating front-of-house teams who welcome with authenticity, while ensuring those technical elements of service seem effortless; where service anticipates every need and work together in an elegant choreography of thoughtfulness that infuses a restaurant from the first greeting the last goodbye.
A New York City-based restaurant consultant and strategist with more than 35 years of experience working with restaurants, Beatrice has helped restaurants to open and thrive in some of the most competitive markets in the country and across the world.
Born and raised in Chicago to entrepreneurial parents who ran a hot dog stand called Little Bea’s, Beatrice worked every position in the front of the house and learned the meaning of customer service along the way—from warm greeting to grateful farewell, and all the steps in between. From her parents, she gained a passion for hospitality that has been a hallmark of her impressive career in which she has directed multi-million dollar, high-profile openings (The Cecil, Minton’s, Tetsu), in addition to managing every detail of a project while working as a liaison with legal, accounting, marketing, public relations, design and construction.
With decades of training and development experience, Beatrice’s mission has been to deliver high-quality training programs that empower clients to reach the highest level of hospitality and productivity for their operations. Her expertise includes creating and executing training programs with a full suite of supporting materials for all front of house positions and implementing company branded invaluable on- boarding programs for new staff members. Beatrice’s vision to teach essential skills and to share her unique brand of holistic hospitality—engaging employees to embrace a deeper level of attention to detail in service and guest care that is at the heart of every successful operation.
In 2013, Beatrice founded Hospitality Pathways, aimed at training the next generation of hospitality professionals.
For more information on Beatrice’s consulting services click here.
Our Board
JENNIFER DILLON
Jennifer Dillon is a Workforce Development executive currently working with The Doe Fund where she has been a key being part of the organization’s strategic planning group to redesign workforce development within the company. The aim has been to ensure that the workforce development team was collaborative, current, and guided by best practices and above all responsive to its community's voice. Based on her engagement in policy meetings, Jennifer helped guide The Doe Fund to more effectively target the growth industries via the educational and occupational training offered to the people participating in the Ready, Willing & Able program. Currently, Jennifer is working to enhance The Doe Fund’s training to include skilled trades specifically welding and carpentry. She received three awards for her work at The Doe Fund: NYCETC’s Bonnie Potter Leadership Award, NYACCE’s Outstanding Teacher of 2015 and Employee Recognition Award.
Jennifer’s previous careers as both an art educator and as a restaurant manager in New York City have heavily influenced her work in Workforce Development as well as her education at Reed College and at CUNY’s Graduate Center.
JENNIFER DILLON
ALEXANDER LEONARD
Alexander (Alexei) Leonard leads the Labor & Employment practice of Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe, LLC, a full-service law firm focused on the middle-market corporate sector and with a particularly strong practice in hospitality. Alexei represents clients in financial services, technology, entertainment & media, retail, professional service firms and high net worth individual and family offices, as well as the hospitality industry and emerging/startup companies. His practice spans nearly all employment counseling and litigation matters affecting employers today. Alexei’s philosophy is “to go the extra mile” to learn his clients’ businesses. This involved approach means constantly thinking of his clients’ changing needs and objectives, addressing potential issues before they become problems, being available to consult with clients whenever their needs arise, and staying abreast of cutting-edge legal trends and tools that will benefit clients. His clients appreciate his passion for the law and familiarity with practical solutions that can benefit their operations and staffing.
ALEXANDER LEONARD
KUTINA RUHUMBIKA
Kutina Ruhumbika is a well-rounded full-service restaurant and hospitality executive with experience within large corporate environments and smaller independent operations. Her past accomplishments include being the Vice President of Human Resources for Barteca Restaurant
Group scaling the business into multi-unit, multi-state locations which led to the sale of the company. She is currently the Vice President of Human Resources for Major Food Group. Major Food Group owns and operates restaurants in NYC, MIA, Boston, Las Vegas, Paris and Hong Kong. In her current role, she oversees a team focusing on Compliance, Employee Relations, Benefits and Talent Acquisition, and Payroll.
Kutina is an active Board Member of Women in Hospitality United (WIHU), sits on the Advisory Board Member of the James Beard Women's Leadership Program and Advisory Board Member for Qwick.
KUTINA RUHUMBIKA