2025 Women of Influence

The Shelby-Griffin Report presents the 20th annual tribute to Women of Influence in the food industry. For 20 years, we’ve honored the outstanding women shaping the food industry—from executives and innovators to mentors and community leaders. This year’s nominees represent a diverse range of roles, backgrounds, and regions, each making a profound impact in their careers and beyond.

Explore their stories below, and join us in celebrating their achievements.

2025 Women of Influence

2025 Women of Influence

Tanya Duran

Customer Executive, Bimbo Bakeries USA

Tanya Duran is a dynamic and influential leader, who cares about shaping the future of customer relationships and driving sustainable growth for her company. Tanya is one of the few leaders in the industry who has worked on both sides of the desk – as a retailer and a CPG manufacturing partner. As a result, she has great compassion and a clear understanding of how companies can work together to achieve great results. She also is a leader who cares about helping others to achieve their full potential.

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2025 Women of Influence

Thereza Morgenstern

Store Director, Brookshire Grocery Co.

Thereza Morgenstern has done an excellent job leading her team and growing sales and profits. For the first five periods of this fiscal year, she has increased cash flow by 8.87 percent and is beating her plan by 8.63 percent. Her gross profit has increased by 5.71 percent over the previous year and 4.48 percent over plan. With the cost of supplies going up, she has managed to keep that expense below plan year to date. Thereza does an excellent job managing employees and giving them the tools and training they need to be successful. Her manager was recently promoted to store director, which illustrates Thereza's dedication to teaching and mentoring others. She communicates her expectations and helps her team achieve results. She and strives to be No. 1 in company sales contests. A Starbucks recently opened inside her store and Thereza has taken it to the top of the company in weekly sales. Thereza has done an excellent job at getting involved with the city of Lindale and building trust within the community. She works hard to win the business of new customers, even with a Walmart, standalone Starbucks and another coffee shop nearby. Thereza earns the trust and loyalty of new customers by providing products they need when they need them. This, along with a team of great employees, are just some of the reasons she and her store continue to be successful.

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2025 Women of Influence

Tiffany Thibault

Store Manager, Hannaford

Tiffany Thibault embodies the Hannaford value of care in every aspect of her role. She goes above and beyond to ensure the well-being and satisfaction of customers and associates. Her empathetic approach and genuine concern create a welcoming and supportive environment where everyone feels valued.
Tiffany's dedication to providing exceptional customer service and nurturing a positive workplace culture is inspiring. She is a champion of teamwork, fostering a collaborative and inclusive atmosphere. She understands the importance of working together to achieve common goals and ensures that every team member feels heard and respected.
Her leadership has cultivated a strong sense of unity and camaraderie, resulting in a motivated and cohesive team. Tiffany's ability to bring people together and harness their collective strengths is a testament to her exceptional leadership skills. The team is always ready to jump in and help the next customer, so the store remains strong and grows stronger each day. They are a family. Not one member will question the strength in that bond.
Tiffany's humor brings joy and positivity to the workplace. Her ability to lighten the mood and create a fun, engaging environment makes her team excited to come to work each day. Her infectious laughter and upbeat spirit are instrumental in building a vibrant and dynamic work culture.

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2025 Women of Influence

Tiphanie Davis

RASC Accounting Manager, The Kroger Co.

Tiphanie Davis is focused on overseeing financial analysis processes, ensuring compliance with all accounting and company procedures/policies with the designated areas. She demonstrates the company's core values of respect, honesty, integrity, diversity, inclusion and safety. Tiphanie supports division, plant and store leaders by answering financial questions, performing new hire/training and participating in division/plant meetings. She is a good listener and inspires others to reach their full potential. Tiphanie plays a prominent leadership role in guiding, directing and organizing people to help make their church/community a better place for everyone.

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2025 Women of Influence

Treva Bennett

Senior Content Creator, Shelby Publishing Co., Inc.

Treva, who is based at the home office and has spent the past six-and-half-years with Shelby, is grateful for the support of her husband, Trevor, and son, Elijah. The University of Georgia graduate (one of three on staff, all of whom are in editorial), Treva has 38 years of experience, 32 at a community newspaper.

“I enjoy sharing news about the grocery industry. Interviewing independents across the United States for our Market Profiles is one of my favorite parts of the job,” she says.

Treva’s outside interests include travel, reading, college football (Go Dawgs!) and supporting organizations focused on fighting hunger and humanitarian causes.

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2025 Women of Influence

Tricia Greyshock

President and CEO, National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association

Tricia Greyshock has transformed the National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association by addressing industry needs through targeted initiatives. Recognizing the importance of developing next-generation talent, she created the First Penguin Next Generation Leadership Program, providing professionals under age 40 with exposure to senior executives, hands-on market analysis through guided store tours and real-world experience via case study projects.
To drive category innovation, she launched the Penguin Pitch emerging brands contest, creating opportunities for growing brands ($100,000-$2 million in retail sales) to connect with major retailers and distributors. This program addresses the industry's need for fresh perspectives and new product development in the frozen and refrigerated categories.
Her strategic focus on modernizing industry engagement led to record-breaking attendance at NFRA's Executive Conference and Annual Convention, the launch of NFRA's first podcast, Chill & Chat, and expanded research partnerships providing consumer insights.
As NFRA's first female president and CEO, Greyshock has demonstrated that meaningful industry advancement comes through practical, member-focused initiatives that build connections between established leaders and emerging innovators.

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2025 Women of Influence

Valery Ciarimboli

Director, Customer Success, Upshop

Valery Ciarimboli exemplifies transformative leadership in food retail technology. Since her March 2024 promotion, she has scaled her team to match Upshop's growth, doubling her responsibility from 75 to 150 North American retailers after the Invafresh merger in July. Valery's impact extends beyond traditional customer success metrics. She revolutionized performance visibility by revising the customer health scorecard with detailed trending and commentary, providing executives with actionable insights for decision-making. Her approach is demonstrated through her development of a business case for implementing a customer success platform – designed to enhance team scalability while driving cross-sell opportunities and minimizing churn. Drawing from her experience at Giant Eagle, Valery brings a unique perspective, aligning customer success initiatives with Upshop's growth strategy. Her successful onboarding of ChefStore as an e-commerce client exemplifies her ability to expand the customer base while boosting revenue.

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2025 Women of Influence

Virginia Stephens

Director of Sales, C.A. Fortune

Virginia Stephens is in a new role of leading the account sales representatives for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest for C.A. Fortune. A rising star in the organization, she has been with the company for more than four years. In addition, she is active in the grocery community, serving and leading committees for the premiere CPG organization, the Illuminators.
Virginia has coordinated the client participation Food For Families, raising money for Raley's Foundation for those in need in the community. She has also shared her grocery expertise with students in a marketing class at Truckee Meadows Community College, passing along knowledge of the grocery industry to the next generation.

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2025 Women of Influence

Voni Woods

VP, Fresh, Giant Eagle

Voni Woods has love in her heart for the food industry and the people working in it. She was just a kid when she started working in the supermarket to pay for college. Never did she believe it would be her calling for the next 47 years.
Voni's journey has gone through many roles but started with people and great food. She says her best work and accomplishments have been leading and coaching teams that grew and developed as they solved problems and moved up to bigger and better things.
The company has given Voni many opportunities and challenges; it has always been up to her to do something with them. Influential mentors have taught her that leadership is much more than being an expert or achiever. It's more about being "good" as a contributor, transforming oneself and others and ultimately the work.
As she looks to retirement, Voni says she reflects on the ways she has been able to integrate aspects of what is important to her and the community into work, which has allowed her to find purpose and true joy – which is the real gift.

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2025 Women of Influence

Yana Dubinsky

Senior Director, Capital Management, Banking and Payables, Harris Teeter

Yana is a force to be reckoned with. Her strong, resilient personality makes her a natural leader and she's the kind of person who will always find a solution, no matter how complex the challenge. With a vision that's as sharp as her sense of humor, Yana comes to work each day focused on improving the lives of all Harris Teeter associates and ensuring the long-term growth of the company. Her fierce dedication to people-first leadership, coupled with her relentless drive for operational excellence, sets her apart. Yana leads a high-performing team, constantly seeking opportunities to increase efficiency, recognize great work and offer unwavering support. She manages a broad range of responsibilities, including capital projects budgeting, vendor billing, banking and sales audits, as well as overseeing joint ventures and insurance claims.Yana's competitive nature keeps her in constant motion, always striving for improvement both personally and professionally. She's a proud mother of four and balances her professional and personal lives with grace. Her team loves her infectious energy and the supportive, fun and high-performing environment she fosters. In short, Yana doesn't just challenge the status quo – she redefines it. She is fearless, passionate and always fighting for what's right.

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