The Shelby-Griffin Report presents the 21st annual tribute to Women of Influence in the food industry. For 21 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.
2026 Women of Influence
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2026 Women of InfluenceClaudia Velgara
District Loss Prevention Specialist, Superior Grocers
Read MoreClaudia Velgara is a forward-thinking loss prevention leader who drives measurable impact across shrink reduction, associate safety and operational discipline at Superior Grocers.
Beginning her career in frontline grocery operations, she developed firsthand insight into store execution and customer experience. She advanced into investigative and analytical leadership, leveraging POS exception reporting, trend analysis and case development to identify internal and external theft patterns and implement targeted corrective strategies.
Wicklander certified, Velgara conducts investigations with professionalism, integrity and sound judgment. She played a pivotal role in helping launch the company's SAFR facial recognition program. She supported implementation, compliance alignment and store-level adoption -- ensuring the technology was deployed responsibly and effectively. Her leadership improved visibility on repeat offenders, accelerated case resolution and strengthened proactive deterrence, enhancing both safety and profitability.
Bilingual, Velgara builds trust across diverse teams and partners cross-functionally to embed sustainable loss prevention practices. She does not simply respond to risk; she builds systems that prevent it.
Her innovation, influence and operational results make her deserving of this recognition.
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2026 Women of InfluenceConstance Hammond
Retail Safety and Casualty Claims Manager, Lowes Foods Stores
Read MoreConstance Hammond provides steady and confident leadership in the area of safety and claims administration for retail operations support. She ensures that retail stores are compliant with all regulatory requirements and oversees all aspects of safety training and program execution are her major objectives.
Hammond oversees a best-in-class retail safety program while also serving as a TPA liaison to ensure any accident claims are properly and promptly administered to control expense.
She volunteers in her community at homeless shelters through her church outreach ministry and has been a board member of a local animal rescue organization. She also is a foster dog mom.
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2026 Women of InfluenceCourtney Meador
VP of Human Resources, Houchens Food Group
Read MoreCourtney Meador exemplifies principled, visionary leadership in her department at Houchens Food Group. Serving more than 12,000 employees across 15 states, she provides strategic oversight for all human resources functions supporting four retail formats, a distribution warehouse and the corporate office.
Meador's leadership reflects operational excellence and a deep commitment to people. She spearheads enterprise-wide talent acquisition and retention strategies, shapes organizational culture and champions employee engagement initiatives that strengthen the company's ability to attract and develop top talent.
Meador also oversees payroll, compliance, employee relations, workers' compensation and crisis response efforts, ensuring consistent, fair and effective workforce practices across a complex, multi-location organization.
Between March 1, 2024-Feb. 28, 2025, she led a transformative culture initiative anchored in the "One Mission and 5 Rules" framework. She authored the company's new mission statement -- "Proudly empowering employee-owners, serving customers and supporting communities" -- creating a unifying foundation for accountability and engagement.
Through executive collaboration, enterprise-wide training and innovative communication strategies, Meador ensured the initiative was fully embedded into daily operations. She also launched Houchens Food Group University, a scalable online learning platform that streamlined onboarding.
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2026 Women of InfluenceCrystal Dominguez
Store Director, United Supermarkets
Read MoreCrystal Dominguez leads the United Supermarkets store in Muleshoe, Texas, where her steady, hands‑on leadership has strengthened both her team and the store's performance. This year, her store reached a major milestone, achieving a higher store rating for the Muleshoe location for the first time since 1996. Average weekly sales numbers were up, reflecting her focus, consistency and belief in what her team can accomplish together.
Dominguez works with her leaders to build smart labor schedules, protect service standards and keep the store running smoothly without placing strain on her team. She is committed to developing people, encouraging managers to learn across departments so they can support the store as a whole. Her willingness to teach, guide and challenge her team has created confident, capable leaders who feel supported and valued.
Dominguez's leadership is rooted in service. She rolls up her sleeves, works alongside her team and sets the tone for the entire store. Her presence builds trust and inspires a culture where everyone takes pride in their work and feels ownership in the store's success.
Dominguez's impact extends far beyond the store. She serves on the Muleshoe Heritage Foundation board and the CTE Advisory Committee and supports groups such as Muleshoe Fine Art, athletic booster clubs, the local food bank and multiple charity events. And her store has been recognized by community partners for its consistent support and kindness.
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2026 Women of InfluenceDanielle Wortham
Warehouse Operations Manager, Gelson's Markets
Read MoreAs a woman in a male-dominated distribution center, Danielle Wortham embodies strength and a no-nonsense, get-it-done kind of grit that leads the way. Beginning her career as a temporary clerk in human resources, she worked her way into the distribution center where she now oversees the daily operations of a complex, high-volume logistics environment.
Known for her direct leadership style and operational discipline, Wortham plays a critical role in coordinating across warehouse teams, transportation, buyers and store leadership. Her journey from temporary employee to operational leader reflects her determination, resilience and unwavering commitment to accountability and excellence.
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2026 Women of InfluenceDarla Deiro
Director, Albertsons SoCal Team, C.A. Fortune
Read MoreDarla Deiro is a key leader at C.A. Fortune, known for her strength in client development, strategic selling and building high-impact retail relationships. Deiro tends to sit right in that lane of driving growth through people, process and customer strategy. She leads customer and client engagement and execution at the SoCal Albertsons division.
Deiro is a strong operator and relationship builder. And not just big ideas -- she's about getting it done with clients and teams.
She has a client-first mindset and is focused on delivering results and making sure brands feel supported and growing.
Deiro is a connector across teams. She bridges gaps between sales, clients and internal teams, especially important in a national model like C.A. Fortune.
Deiro also is execution focused. She leans into "how does this actually land in market?" versus just strategy.
In addition, she is active in the community. She is part of the board of NextUp Southern California and attends and volunteers with Illuminators and FISMC.
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2026 Women of InfluenceDea Calkins
Business Manager, JOH
Read MoreDea Calkins serves as a business manager in the Twin Cities and is a respected leader within JOH's North Central region. Throughout her career, she has built a reputation for bringing strategic thinking, deep industry knowledge and a steady leadership presence to every partnership she supports. She plays an important role in helping drive growth across the region, working with clients and customers to develop solutions that deliver long-term results. Known for her professionalism and thoughtful approach, Calkins is someone people trust. She listens, considers every angle and finds ways to move initiatives forward while strengthening relationships along the way. Her ability to balance big-picture strategy with day-to-day execution makes her an invaluable partner to the clients and customers she serves. Calkins' strong work ethic, integrity and collaborative spirit have helped her build lasting relationships across the industry. She brings positivity, determination and a genuine commitment to excellence to everything she does. Dea lives in the northwest suburbs of the Twin Cities with her husband, Dave. When she is not working, she enjoys traveling and spending time with friends.
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2026 Women of InfluenceDora Merrick
Senior Global Product Line Manager, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions
Read MoreDora Merrick began at IBM supporting the point-of-sale platform at the world's largest restaurant ecosystem. She learned the demands of quick-service retail and the critical role technology plays in delivering speed, accuracy and seamless customer engagement across millions of global transactions daily.
This early experience shaped her understanding of the intersection between innovation, operations and consumer behavior.
In her current role, she guides the evolution of technologies transforming how consumers interact across the grocery, convenience and hospitality industries. Modern self-checkout extends beyond automation to empower consumers with greater choice while enabling retailers to improve operational efficiency, reduce shrink and scale while maintaining high-quality service.
Alongside her corporate responsibilities, Merrick is committed to making an impact through philanthropic initiatives. She takes pride in leading Toshiba's volunteer program with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, organizing hundreds of employees to participate in an annual 5K and donating $148,374 since 2021. This organization helps injured veterans and first responders, Gold Star families and homeless veterans with mortgage-free homes.
Merrick's journey reflects a passion for intuitive, accessible self-service technologies that thrive in a increasingly digital world while also making an impactin the community.
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2026 Women of InfluenceElizabeth Hinson
VP, Sales, C.A. Fortune
Read MoreElizabeth Hinson consistently delivers results-driven growth while elevating the performance and potential of those around her.
Her strategic leadership has strengthened retailer partnerships throughout the Southeast, where her deep connectivity and credibility with key accounts have expanded distribution, accelerated brand velocity and driven measurable revenue gains for both emerging and established brands.
Hinson combines sharp commercial acumen with an authentic, people-first leadership style. She builds high-performing teams rooted in accountability, mentorship and collaboration, empowering her sales organization to think strategically and execute flawlessly. Her ability to align retailers, brands and internal stakeholders around shared goals has made her a trusted partner across the industry.
Beyond performance metrics, Hinson is known for cultivating industry relationships that extend far beyond transactions. She supports brand founders, champions innovation and contributes to a culture of partnership that strengthens the broader food ecosystem. Her influence is reflected not only in sales results, but in the confidence, careers and connections she helps shape.
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2026 Women of InfluenceEmilee Albright
Category Insights Manager, Schraad Sales & Marketing
Read MoreEmilee Albright is a data-driven leader who brings strategic insight and analytical expertise to category management. In her current role, she transforms complex market data into actionable strategies that drive measurable business growth. Through advanced analytics, cross-functional collaboration a deep understanding of consumer behavior, she helps guide category strategy, strengthen product positioning to uncover new revenue opportunities for both clients and retail partners.
Albright plays a key role in translating insights into clear, impactful business decisions. By analyzing syndicated data, market trends shopper behavior, she provides teams with the clarity needed to prioritize opportunities and execute strategic plans with confidence. Her ability to connect data with storytelling helps align teams across sales, marketing leadership around shared growth objectives.
Her leadership style emphasizes curiosity, accountability and continuous learning. Albright works to create an environment where teams feel empowered to ask questions, explore insights use data to guide decision-making. Through training and collaboration, she helps colleagues better understand how to leverage insights tools.
Outside of work, she is committed to building community. From hosting weekly gatherings to supporting neighborhood initiatives such as a community garden and local service projects, she invests in creating connection and support within her community.
Celebrating the Women of Influence in the food industry for 21 years!
Presented by The Shelby-Griffin Report
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