CAROLINE
NAHAS
Caroline Nahas
Caroline is a career executive with decades of experience. She is currently the Vice Chair at Korn Ferry International and held leadership positions with the company starting in 1998. She is also the Chair of UCLA Anderson’s Board of Advisors, an ethics award judge at The McGowan Fund, and most importantly on the board of Dine Brands, the parent company of chains Applebee’s and IHOP.
Despite her experience, Caroline is lacking in one key area: corporate responsibility.
Dine Brands is embroiled in an animal cruelty scandal. Its pork comes from factory farms that use an outdated, cruel practice: confining pigs to tiny metal cages in which they can’t even turn around. Other restaurants’ board members have worked to address this controversial practice, yet Dine Brands’s board lags behind.
The practice of confining pigs to these tiny cages is so cruel that it is now illegal in many U.S. states. First banned in Florida in 2002, it was most recently outlawed in New Jersey in 2023.
Other major restaurant chains are taking action, while Dine Brands drags its heels. Wendy’s has moved away from this practice, and McDonald’s and Burger King are on track to do the same.
In 2013, Dine Brands pledged to phase out gestation crates by 2020, but the company has made little progress. Caroline has earned over $3 million since joining the board in 1992, yet she is shirking one of her primary responsibilities: to uphold the company’s values and ensure its honesty and integrity.