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

Elizabeth Yerecic Freedman

EVP, Sales and Sustainability, Yerecic Label

Elizabeth Yerecic Freedman is the epitome of a selfless leader who gives back to the industry. In her role at Yerecic Label, she has led significant growth on both the purchasing and sales side.
She spearheads sustainability involvement through the Association of Plastic Recyclers, championing the recyclability of labels. She sits on the IDDBA Board of Directors, as well as the Annual Meat Planning committee. Elizabeth co-chaired the 2025 Annual Meat conference as one of the youngest co-chairs in history.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Enid Barillas

CEO, AM Inc.

Enid Barillas is a visionary leader in the food industry, serving as CEO of AM Inc., which operates Econo Healthy Path Markets in Puerto Rico. With a background in mechanical engineering and an MBA, she has driven significant growth, expanding AM Inc. threefold in just five years. Her strategic leadership has earned the company a reputation for operational excellence, attracting key industry partnerships. Enid's commitment to innovation is evident in the award-winning Healthy Path Market Program, which has twice earned national recognition for its focus on consumer wellness. She is also a champion for women in the grocery sector, actively mentoring future leaders through organizations like Women Grocers of America and the Executive Female Leader Network. Beyond her business acumen, Enid is deeply invested in her community. She advocates for independent grocers, helping them navigate economic challenges while ensuring consumers continue to receive value. Her leadership balances financial success with a strong sense of social responsibility.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Evelyne Lafontaine

VP Marketing and Innovation, Cascades

Evelyne Lafontaine is a dedicated and considerate leader who embodies resilience and determination. No challenge is too great for her. She approaches every obstacle with a problem-solving mindset, ensuring that solutions are always within reach. As the leader of the innovation and marketing team, composed of 25 members, she fosters a culture of creativity, collaboration and excellence. She is not only results-driven but also very supportive and accessible, always rooting for her team and empowering them to reach their full potential. Evelyne is an inclusive leader who recognizes the unique strengths of each individual and provides them with opportunities to shine. A mother of two, Evelyne balances her professional excellence with an unwavering commitment to her family and community. Every year, she participates in fundraising efforts to support children with cancer, demonstrating her compassion and dedication. Her ability to juggle leadership, motherhood and meaningful engagement is truly inspiring. Evelyne's relentless drive, deep care for those around her and passion for creating a positive impact make her a deserving nominee for this recognition.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Faith Eden

Store Manager, Woods Supermarkets

Faith Eden is a dynamic and results-driven leader who has consistently demonstrated excellence in her role. She exhibits exceptional job performance and strong leadership qualities and has made outstanding contributions to her community. Faith has consistently achieved impressive results, driving operational efficiency, achieving sales and fostering a customer-centric culture. She has led her team to reduce operational costs and improve overall customer satisfaction. Her strategic thinking and data-driven approach have played a significant role in optimizing store performance, even in challenging times. By embracing innovative technology and staying attuned to market trends, she has enhanced the store's competitive edge, ensuring its sustained growth and success. Faith is an outstanding leader who inspires her team to achieve their best. Her leadership style is marked by clear communication, empathy and a commitment to professional development. She has created a work environment where employees feel valued and supported, fostering a sense of teamwork and loyalty. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Faith is deeply committed to making a positive impact on her community and empowering her team.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Farah Lavigne

Store Manager, Hannaford

Farah Lavigne is a consummate role model to every associate in her store. She always leads with care as her first filter. She also leads with grace. Her relationship-building skills are one of her many "superpowers." She has built a network of Hannaford associates that know they can count on her as a resource.
As graceful and caring Farah is, she drives her team with the highest expectations. Her goals are nothing short of operational excellence. She is firm, sets expectations high and expects those around her to deliver with consistency. She is the ultimate coach and is always involved in enabling her team to achieve their objectives.
She leads with a hands-on approach. Never afraid to jump in on any task and often explaining why things are done a certain way, all with the goal to get staff engaged in the work environment.
Farah is quick to invest her personal time putting together extravagant events for the store, ensuring associates feel appreciated with family-style food events. Anyone who has benefitted from her passion for food will be quick to say she has a true gift.
In an environment where retail workers can seemingly get a job anywhere, Farah leads a group of engaged employees who choose to come to work every day because they know she is in the same corner working toward the same goals.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Freda Roussell

Sales Manager Bakery, Safeway NorCal - Albertsons Companies

An asset to the baking industry, Freda Roussell has more than 30 years of experience. She has managed two of California's top retail grocery bakery chains, Pavilions SoCal and Safeway NorCal, which are in some of the most competitive markets in the nation. Freda has donated her time to the IDDBA, an organization that helps vendors nationally and internationally bring their products to market.
Despite her busy schedule, she visits vendor production plants on weekends and holidays to better understand their business and potentially tweak their products to ensure they create sustainable brands.
Her knowledge is critical to the industry, and she is working to change carbon footprint and packaging compliance. The Bay Area constantly changes, and Freda is at the forefront of innovation for the community.
Freda attends national and international shows that bring innovation to the markets, providing knowledge on cake designs, better ingredients for a healthier eating experience, fresher flavors and cool concepts. In her words, "Everyone should have quality bakery goods."
Freda works hard to ensure that the market she is running stays ahead and is always on trend. Her knowledge of the bakery industry is unparalleled, and she is one of the few people who can travel abroad in search of the next-best concept.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Gabriela Vazquez

Social and Digital Media Manager, Northgate Gonzalez Market

Since starting her journey with Northgate González Market in 2014 as a part-time courtesy clerk, Gabriela Vazquez has grown with the company and found a passion for connecting people to the company's culture through digital storytelling.
Gabriela has focused on shaping a brand presence that reflects the richness of Mexican heritage. From strengthening the company's visual identity to building partnerships with influencers and creators who share its values, she says it has been rewarding to see her work resonate with customers and impact the business.
Gabriela takes pride in utilizing her background in art history and literature to create content that celebrates Mexican traditions, people and food, helping build lasting connections within the community.
Gabriela says that she has learned that leading with humility, emotional intelligence and a collaborative spirit is key to building trust and driving progress. She is thankful for the mentors, teammates and leaders at Northgate who have inspired and supported her every step of the way.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Gen Mallett

Store Director, Lowes Foods

Gen Mallett, who has held multiple roles of increasing responsibility with Lowes Foods, was recently promoted to lead the store in Chapin, South Carolina. Besides being an operational leader for the company, she has also effectively led multi-unit merchandising operations for perishable areas. Gen has made several positive contributions since taking over her most recent assignment, including tailoring the merchandising assortment of her store to the community and identifying significant gaps in perishable department purchasing and production that has greatly improved the store's profitability. Gen takes an active role in recruitment, placement and training of every new host so that guests receive great service. Gen's leadership style was a perfect match for her store and is on display through great merchandising and community engagement. She always makes the time to explain the why behind the new and improved processes the company is testing along with moving the conversation forward towards what is next. Gen's abilities are highly valued by the organization.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Gilma Garcia Sandoval

Outbound Supervisor, Imperial Distributors

Gilma Garcia Sandoval has been with Imperial for nearly nine years. She received the Change Agent Leadership Award in 2021. Since that time, and particularly in the past year, she has made significant contributions to the company and her team. Most notably, she has expanded the team's reach following a significant reorganization and staffing changes over the past year.
Gilma has an unmatched passion for her team and colleagues. She shows the team the ability to meet deadlines on any new project or process to ensure the company remains on track with its goals.
Gilma has been excellent at motivating outbound team members to produce value, and her willingness to collaborate and help in any way is inspiring. Her dedication to completing projects is infectious and genuine as she believes that any new change will make a difference.
In two years, Gilma has gone from a freshly promoted supervisor to one of the go-to leaders in the distribution center.

Read More
2025 Women of Influence

Hannah Grenier

Human Resources Business Partner, Imperial Distributors

Hannah Grenier takes on projects and tasks with excitement and an eagerness to get them accomplished effectively and efficiently. If there is another project that needs to take priority, she is happy to pivot and take on that project instead.
When her manager went on maternity leave, Hannah learned and covered processes without hesitation. This included unemployment claims (filings and attending hearings) and reporting on worker's compensation claims (assisting team members through this process and finding light duty assignments).
If the talent acquisition specialist needs help or is out of the office, Hannah backs up recruitment for sales and administration. The team can stop by her office or give her a call and she can assist them with any questions or concerns.
Hannah jumps right in on issues in the warehouse if the manager or other business partner are unavailable. She has trained co-workers different tasks/processes in human resources.
Hannah is a leader on the HR and sales leadership teams. Supervisors and managers know they can go to her with any questions or concerns and talk through any situation. She provides guidance and expertise, always ready to support the leadership team in a difficult conversation or by visiting a new hire who may be struggling.

Read More