Meet Our Executive Team
Joe Guith
Chief Executive Officer
Joe Guith leads Church’s Texas Chicken® and Texas Chicken® domestic and international restaurants. With over 1,500 locations in 24 countries, he drives strategic initiatives designed to ignite growth and serve guests and franchisees across the globe. Church’s® has system-wide sales of more than $1 billion.
With over 30 years’ experience in food service, consumer products and retail, Joe has a passion for developing high-performing teams, growing brands and accelerating digital capabilities.
Joe was previously Restaurant Category President at Focus Brands, where he oversaw a portfolio of more than 1,500 restaurants across the Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli and Schlotzsky’s brands. He also held Brand President positions at McAlister’s Deli and Cinnabon. He helped both of those brands realize steady growth, expanded customer bases and improved unit-level economics.
Joe’s passion for people carries into the community. He proudly supports the mission of Goodwill Industries International, where he recently completed his term as an officer on the National Board of Directors.
Joe received his BBA, Marketing and MBA, Finance and Strategy from the University of Michigan and was named one of Atlanta’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders in 2023.
Ahnaf Ali
SVP, Chief Information Officer
Ahnaf Ali is a technology visionary with a 25-year track record of driving innovative solutions for large global brands.
At Church’s Texas Chicken®, Ahnaf leads the Technology and Digital Platforms team responsible for implementing and maintaining critical systems that serve restaurants and enterprises. He spearheads the translation of strategic priorities of the business into specific tactics, including developing annual and long-term technology budgets and balancing budget requests with ROI analysis, among many other technical tasks.
Before joining the Church’s® family, Ahnaf spent over 23 years in positions ranging from technical solution architect to executive level for global restaurant brands, including Subway (Franchise Co-Op), Burger King, Arby’s, and BurgerFi International. Over that time, he developed and implemented custom solutions for POS, Back Office, Payments, and Data Analytics solutions.
Ahnaf studied Computer Science and has certifications in several programming languages such as, system architectures, project management, Six Sigma, Agile, AI, and Data Science to name a few. As technology evolves, he prioritizes ongoing education to remain innovative and informed on all things tech.
Will Cash
SVP, Global Supply Chain & Quality Assurance
Will Cash has more than 12 years of QSR experience and a proven record of accomplishments in supply chain management. He is an innovative leader who drives results related to process improvements, cost savings, and new product development. Will oversees Church’s® strategic sourcing/purchasing, distribution, and quality assurance functions to support the company’s growing global operations. He leads the brand’s ability to efficiently source, make and deliver ingredients, equipment, and raw materials, with an emphasis on quality, innovation, and value.
Prior to joining Church’s®, Will gained valuable experience from serving in various procurement and supply chain leadership roles within Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation, flyExclusive, and Pinkbox Doughnuts.
Will earned two Master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky; one in Business Administration (MBA) and the other in International Commerce (MA). He earned his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Studies with a minor in Spanish, from Elon University.
Frank Costello
SVP, U.S. Franchise Domestic Development
Frank Costello joined Church’s Texas Chicken® in 2022. He oversees multiple departments supporting the company’s domestic business, including franchisee development, real estate, construction and design.
With more than 25 years of experience in franchising, Frank has a passion for building and scaling successful franchise concepts for top-tier organizations as an executive leader and a former multi-unit, multi-brand franchisee.
Frank has worked in various sectors, including QSR, automotive and optical industries, with a proven track record of executing franchise excellence for legacy brands. His expertise includes implementing where-to-win market strategies and go-to-market footprint design, investor profile analytics, franchisor sector positioning, recruitment and real estate development.
Frank studied Criminal Justice and Business in college and later at the Advanced Entrepreneurial School of Business at Temple University. He currently sits on multiple boards – one of which is the Titus School of Franchising at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where he mentors future leaders in franchising.
Natalia Franco
EVP, Global Chief Marketing Officer
At Church’s Texas Chicken®, Natalia has numerous responsibilities in her role as Global Chief Marketing Officer, including brand positioning, building and leveraging digital strategies, advertising and maintaining franchise relationships, and co-op management.
With more than 30 years of experience, Natalia has extensive knowledge of restaurant brands, packaged foods, and beverages in the U.S. and internationally. She has become a successful leader and excels in building high-performing cross-functional teams across retail, franchisee systems, and multichannel environments.
Natalia received a Business degree in Bogotá, Colombia, earned a graduate degree in Retailing from Universidad de Valencia in Spain, and holds a C.S.S. from Harvard University in Administration and Management.
Roland Gonzalez
U.S. Chief Operations Officer
Roland has more than 12 years of industry experience in franchising, operations, P&L management, global business strategies and process improvement to Church’s Texas Chicken®. He is an innovative and results-driven leader who drives core business metrics for the brand.
Prior to Church’s®, Roland served in a leadership role at Virtual Dining Concepts as their EVP, Chief Operating Officer. Before Virtual Dining Concepts, he was with Restaurant Brands International (RBI) as their Head of Global Operations Standards and Strategy.
Roland earned his MBA and Bachelor of International Business Administration from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is on his alma mater’s Board of Trustees as Treasurer and received the 40 Under 40 award from the South Florida Business Journal and the Executive Award from the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. He is also a board member and supporter of the non-profit Share Your Heart.
Danton Nolan
EVP, Chief Financial Officer
Danton Nolan is an industry veteran with 15 years of franchised QSR experience and a proven record of accomplishment in financial leadership.
As EVP and Chief Financial Officer, his responsibilities include accounting, tax, business planning, investor and lending relations, as well as risk management. Danton works closely with the corporate and brand finance teams to deliver on strategic priorities as we add restaurants both domestically and internationally.
Danton joins Church’s Texas Chicken® from Inspire Brands, the second-largest restaurant company in the U.S., where he was the Senior Vice President, Company Finance, Capital, and Real Estate. While there, he led a team covering company operations finance, real estate and development finance, and capital and services transformation.
Danton earned an MBA from the University of Virginia and a BA, in European Economic Policy from Vanderbilt University.
Neel Patel
SVP, Strategy & Growth
Neel leads strategy and growth efforts at Church’s Texas Chicken®. He drives strategic planning, including data & analytics and business transformation. Patel also accelerates initiatives across all aspects of the business, within Marketing, Development, Finance, Supply Chain and International functions.
Neel joins Church’s® from McKinsey & Company, where he led growth-focused client engagements within several industries. His work has addressed marketing & sales, brand, strategy, organization and operations across private equity, industrials, automotive, consumer goods and retail.
Neel graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar.
Craig S. Prusher
EVP, Chief Legal Officer
As Chief Legal Officer for Church’s Texas Chicken®, Craig is responsible for all legal issues facing our global business, including franchising, acquisitions and divestitures, intellectual property, human resources, real estate, supply and distribution, government and industry affairs, and litigation.
He joined Church’s® after 19 years at Burger King Corporation where he was responsible for franchising, real estate and government and industry relations in North and Latin America as VP, Assistant General Counsel. Previously, he was an associate in the corporate department of two Boston law firms.
Craig graduated with a BA from Boston University and received his law degree from Boston University School of Law. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law where he teaches a course in Franchise Law.
Karen Viera
SVP, Global Chief People Officer
At Church’s Texas Chicken® and Texas Chicken®, Karen J. Viera leads all human resource functions, including internal communications.
Karen has more than 20 years of experience in HR senior-level positions. She has a passion for people and serves as president of the Church’s® Partners Foundation, a charitable organization providing support to company and franchise hourly employees. Karen also leads the People Excellence Committee in partnership with our franchisees.
Karen holds an MS in Human Resource Management from Florida International University and a BA focused on Human Resources from Trinity International University. She is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional, DiSC Certified Training Instructor, and holds a Senior Professional Human Resources Management Certification. Karen is currently serving her fourth-term appointment by Georgia’s Governor to the State Workforce Development Board and is Chair of the Adult and Dislocated Workers Committee for the State of Georgia. She was named one of the Georgia Titan 100 C-Suite leaders in 2022 and 2023.
Tim Waddell
EVP, International Business
With more than 25 years of global development experience, Tim Waddell is an industry leader who focuses on building and strengthening international franchisee relationships while maximizing sales, profitability, and growth for our brands overseas. Tim leads the international team across the Americas and throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
His previous roles include Vice President and Managing Director of International Development for Inspire Brands where he drove international growth for Arby’s, Baskin Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and Sonic. Prior to Inspire Brands, Tim spent almost a decade leading international expansion for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.
Tim received a bachelor’s degree in International Business, with concentrations in Marketing and Spanish from the University of Georgia. He completed his postgraduate work in Southwest China and is conversational in both Spanish and Chinese.
