Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence to
create globally scalable program to educate and support
entrepreneurs and advance franchising industry
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) and the University of Louisville
today announced the launch of the Yum! Center for Global Franchise
Excellence. The Center will feature the first business program of
its kind at a public university to provide existing and potential
franchisees multiple levels of online education focused on the
franchising model across industries. In addition, the Yum! Center
for Global Franchise Excellence will focus on recruiting and
educating underrepresented people of color and women on the
possibilities of franchising as a pathway to entrepreneurship.
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Yum! Center for Global Franchise
Excellence: Yum! Brands and the University of Louisville announce
the first-of-its-kind education and research center to unlock
opportunities in franchising for underrepresented people of color
and women. (Photo: University of Louisville)
The creation and funding of the Center is part of Yum! Brands’
global Unlocking Opportunity Initiative, in which the Company
committed $100 million over five years to promote equity and
inclusion, education and entrepreneurship for employees, frontline
restaurant teams and communities around the world.
“We believe that combining the resources and expertise of the
University of Louisville with Yum! Brands will create an unrivaled
resource for world-class training in franchising that will help
people everywhere, particularly underrepresented people of color
and women, succeed in franchise ownership and management," said
UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. "We're excited about the new center
as it aligns with UofL's commitment to empower our communities and
supports our vision to become the nation's premier anti-racist
metropolitan research university.”
“We’re proud to partner with the University of Louisville on
developing a sustainable, globally scalable program that
democratizes exposure to and builds knowledge of the franchising
industry for all,” said Scott Catlett, Chief Legal and Franchise
Officer, Yum! Brands. “Our hope is the Center will carve a path to
economic opportunity and successful ownership for talented,
underrepresented people while bringing diverse voices and ideas to
the broader franchising community.”
The Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence builds on UofL’s
existing franchising education tracks within the College of
Business, which include a graduate program and an executive-level
Franchise Management Certificate. New to the Center is an
undergraduate franchising track within the Bachelor of Business
Administration program that launched in the Spring 2021 semester.
The Center’s curriculum development will continue to be led by
franchising industry alumni and business experts at UofL with
subject matter experts at Yum! Brands providing resources,
up-to-date information and powerful industry insights on the state
of franchising. In addition, to improve equity for underrepresented
people of color and women, the Center will:
- actively recruit diverse students to its undergraduate,
graduate and executive-level programs offered through the College
of Business;
- conduct research to develop new knowledge surrounding franchise
ownership, including case studies, white papers and other work to
better understand the reasons for lower ownership by
underrepresented people of color and women;
- create regular podcasts and a practitioner-focused journal to
share franchising education and news with franchise owners and
managers.
“Franchising is one of the best paths to entrepreneurship,
creating an opportunity to build generational wealth,” said
Kathleen Gosser, Ph.D., executive-in-residence in the UofL College
of Business, where the Center will be based. “Franchise ownership
among underrepresented people of color and women is lower than
their representation in the population. Our goal is to uncover and
reduce barriers to franchise ownership, starting with
education.”
The franchising model is strong in the U.S. and globally and
makes business ownership accessible to many individuals. By the end
of 2021, the International Franchise Association projects the
franchising industry will increase to more than 780,000 outlets
employing 8.2 million people in the U.S. alone.
“Partnering with UofL on the Yum! Center for Global Franchise
Excellence allows Yum! Brands to amplify our world-class
franchising model and give more people access to the franchising
world and the ability to create generational wealth and a legacy,”
said Wanda Williams, Head of Yum! Global Franchising. “Access to
the program will also be a wonderful opportunity for new
franchisees entering the Yum! Brands system as well as for
employees who want to become business owners.”
In addition to Yum! Brands’ recent grant to UofL, the Company
also is investing $6 million over five years to advance equity and
opportunity across Louisville, particularly in West Louisville,
including uplifting Black students, educators, entrepreneurs and
social change agents. As part of this, Yum! Brands is working with
Nat Irvin, assistant dean in the UofL College of Business, on the
university’s Pathways program to help predominantly Pell
Grant-eligible high school students at key public schools in
Louisville earn college credits from and early admission to
UofL.
About the University of Louisville
Founded in 1798, the University of Louisville is a
state-supported research university located in Kentucky's largest
metropolitan area. The university serves more than 22,000 students
each year through undergraduate, graduate and professional programs
in 12 colleges and schools. The university has been recognized and
honored for efforts in research, community engagement initiatives
and commitment to diversity. UofL is accredited by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is a
member of the Atlantic Coast Conference for both academics and
athletics. For more information, visit louisville.edu.
About Yum! Brands, Inc.
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over
50,000 restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories and
more than 2,000 franchisees around the world. The Company’s brands
– KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell – are global leaders of the chicken,
pizza and Mexican-style food categories. The Company’s family of
brands also includes The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual
restaurant concept specializing in made-to-order chargrilled
burgers, sandwiches and more. Yum! Brands was included on the 2021
Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and in 2020, Yum! Brands was named
to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and was ranked
among the top 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media.
In 2020, Yum! Brands launched the global Unlocking Opportunity
Initiative, which includes a $100 million commitment over five
years to promote equity and inclusion, education and
entrepreneurship for employees, frontline restaurant teams and
communities around the world. Across KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and
The Habit Burger Grill, and in close collaboration with Yum!’s
franchisees, the Unlocking Opportunity Initiative builds on more
than 20 years of investing in the Company’s people-first
culture.
Yum! Brands has been committed to the Louisville community since
1997 when the Company was first created and has contributed more
than $60 million to hundreds of local non-profit agencies and
charities since then. In addition to the Company’s expanded efforts
to address inequality locally, Yum! Brands is the proud naming
rights partner of the Louisville-based KFC Yum! Center arena. In
addition, the Yum! Brands Foundation continues its long history of
supporting Dare to Care Food Bank, Metro United Way and Fund for
the Arts in Louisville.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210526005593/en/
UofL: Betty Coffman, 502-852-4573, betty.coffman@louisville.edu
Yum!: Rick Maynard, 502-550-5166, rick.maynard@yum.com
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