Madelyn Alfano is the CEO and owner of Maria’s Italian Kitchen, one of California’s leading privately owned restaurant chains. With headquarters in Van Nuys, CA, and 300 plus employees, Madelyn led the transformation from a family-owned single location grocery/deli to an 8 location $20M business by acquisition, organic growth, and brand building into a profitable casual dining, central commissary, and catering kitchen enterprise. Madelyn was Chair of the Statewide California Restaurant Association in 2020 working with State of California and local government officials in securing public policy to protect 100,000 restaurant owners and their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Madelyn is an active leader in Young Presidents Organization (YPO) serving as Chair of the YPO Food and Beverage Network representing 10,000 hospitality owners, franchisees, and public company globally and serving as an executive committee member. Madelyn brings an innovative approach to B2C brand building and has developed and led a strong Marketing team with expertise in social media, data mining and analysis, consumer loyalty programs, email, custom APP development, and graphic design. She is a frequent panelist and member of the CNBC Small Business Council and is consulted for restaurant sector news by the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Fox, CBS and NBC News.