Board of Directors

Mr. Pace has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since August 2019 and was appointed Board Chair in November 2019. He brings more than 30 years of leadership and turnaround experience in the food, beverage and retail industries, among others. From 2020 to 2023, Mr. Pace served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tastemaker Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company focusing on the restaurant, hospitality, and related technology and service sectors. From 2016 to 2018, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Jamba Juice, Inc., where he led the brand through a highly successful repositioning and tripled profit performance and ultimately a strategic sale of the company. Prior to that, he served as President of Carrabba’s Italian Grill, from 2014 to 2016, where he oversaw broad operational changes, significant margin improvement and accelerated profit growth. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Pace served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Resource Officer at Bloomin’ Brands, the $4.1 billon parent company of Outback Steakhouse, where he was responsible for real estate development and human capital deployment across approximately 1,500 restaurants, 100,000 team members and five brands. Earlier in his career, Mr. Pace held various leadership positions at Starbucks Corporation, PepsiCo, and YUM! Brands, Inc., among others.

Mr. Ackil has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since March 2020. He is a restaurant industry executive who currently serves as the CEO of Streetlight Ventures, a retail support platform for small business and real estate brokers, having founded the Company in 2019. He also currently serves on the boards of B.Good, and Project Bread, an organization committed to preventing and ending hunger in Massachusetts. Mr. Ackil previously founded B.Good and served as its CEO from 2004 to 2018. Before joining B.Good, he worked as a consultant for IBM, focusing on internet strategy and corporate structure. Previously, he was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1999 to 2003. Mr. Ackil received a B.A. from Harvard University.

Mr. Conforti has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since August 2019. He is an accomplished executive with more than 30 years of experience in financial, strategic, and operational roles across multiple industries including restaurant, retail, consumer, and hospitality. He most recently served as a Senior Advisor to Wyndham Worldwide from 2017 to 2018, where he advised on strategic transactions. Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Wyndham Worldwide from 2009 to 2017, where he had direct responsibility for all finance, technology, real estate, and purchasing functions. During that time, he helped lead successful changes to the company’s capital allocation strategy, and the company delivered a total shareholder return of over 700%. Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer for IHOP / Dinequity from 2002 to 2008, where he led the purchase of Applebee’s and a change in IHOP’s franchising model. Earlier in his career, Mr. Conforti held leadership positions at The Walt Disney Company and KB Home, as well as a number of roles at PepsiCo.

G.J. Hart has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Robin since September 2022 and has served on the Board of Directors since August 2019. A highly regarded executive with approximately 35 years in the restaurant industry, including both public and private company experience, G.J. is well known for his organizational leadership skills, commitment to profitable growth, and ability to drive long term shareholder value.

G.J. most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Torchy’s Tacos from 2018 until 2021, a privately-held fast-casual concept with more than 100 locations. He was previously the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of California Pizza Kitchen from 2011 to 2018, where he was responsible for its “Next Chapter” of growth with a program that infused a fresh, contemporary look, innovative menu, world-class service model and generated higher per store average sales and profitability. From 2000 to 2011, G.J. served as President of Texas Roadhouse Holdings, LLC and as Chief Executive Officer and member of the board from 2004 to 2011, where he oversaw unprecedented growth and expanded the business from 60 locations to over 450 restaurants in 49 states and two international markets, while increasing revenues from $63 million to over $1 billion. Earlier in his career, G.J. held leadership positions at Al Copeland Investments, TriFoods International, New Zealand Lamb Company, and Shenandoah Valley Poultry, among others.

G.J.’s favorite Red Robin burger is the Whiskey River BBQ Burger.

Mr. Lumpkin has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since August 2016. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry and a strong background in accounting and finance. Mr. Lumpkin currently serves as Principal of Rolling Hills Capital Partners, a consulting firm. Mr. Lumpkin previously served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and director of Applebee's International, Inc., where he held various executive positions from 1995 until his retirement in 2007. Prior to joining Applebee's, he was Executive Vice President and director at Kimberly Quality Care, Inc. Mr. Lumpkin is a CPA.

Mr. Martin has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since December 2024. Mr. Martin has served as a Managing Director of Jumana Capital, LLC, a private investment firm specializing in concentrated investments in middle market companies, since July 2020, where he is responsible for investment strategy and execution across the portfolio, and serves as the Manager of Jumana Capital Investments LLC, an affiliated investment entity. Previously, Mr. Martin served as a Vice President at Hastings Equity Partners, LLC, a private equity firm, from July 2017 until July 2020. Mr. Martin also previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Specialty Welding & Turnarounds, LLC, an industrial services company, from October 2017 through January 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Martin was a Vice President at Simmons & Company International, part of the Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE PIPR), from July 2013 to July 2017. Mr. Martin began his career at FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), a global advisory firm, in the Corporate Finance and Restructuring group. Mr. Martin holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BBA from Texas Christian University.

Ms. Regan has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since August 2023. She has a distinguished, multi-decade, sell-side industry investment banking career, where her dedication to elevating the importance and measurement that the role of human capital plays in the success of restaurant and branded hospitality companies has earned her industry-wide recognition. Ms. Regan currently serves as Head of Strategy for 7 Brew, a network of drive-thru beverage-only stands recognized for its hospitality model. She previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of 7 Brew from 2022 to 2023. Prior to her role at 7 Brew, Ms. Regan served as the managing director and head of the consumer equity research practice at Piper Sandler, a leading investment bank, from 2006 through 2022. Ms. Regan holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from College of St. Benedict. Currently, Ms. Regan sits on the Board of Trustees of the Culinary Institute of America and serves as a director for Tacombi, a privately held fast casual Mexican restaurant chain.

Ms. Page has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since February 2020. She brings more than 10 years of leadership experience as an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry; launching, building, and commercializing high-growth technology platforms at scale across global restaurant, hotel, and entertainment brands, and extensive knowledge in the areas of technology, guest experience, guest engagement, CRM, marketing, loyalty, data analytics, and consumer trends. She was named one of Hospitality Technology’s 2019 Top Women in Restaurant Technology, and currently sits on the board of the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at Cornell University. Ms. Page is Co-Founder and President of SevenRooms, a data-driven operations, marketing, and guest engagement platform that empowers hospitality operators to maximize revenue, build brand loyalty, and enable personalized experiences across the guest journey. Since its inception in 2011, Ms. Page has been responsible for driving product innovation, defining the company’s product roadmap, vision and strategic positioning, and scaling the platform to over 250 cities worldwide. Prior to founding SevenRooms, Ms. Page served as an Associate at Hodes Weill & Associates from 2009 to 2011 as a founding member of the independent real estate and advisory business. Ms. Page started her career in investment banking at Credit Suisse.

Mr. Pappas has served on the Red Robin Board of Directors since December 2024. Mr. Pappas founded JCP Investment Management in Houston in June 2009 and is the Managing Member and owner of the firm. He has served as a director of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI), a food distributor to grocery stores, since September 2023.  Additionally, he has been the chairman of the board of directors of Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: IVFH), a direct-to-chef and restaurant specialty food platform, since 2023, and a director since 2020. Mr. Pappas is also a director of Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLF), a specialty retailer and wholesale distributor of leather and leather related products, a position he has held since 2016. Mr. Pappas previously served on the boards of several other public companies, including food-related businesses such as Jamba, Inc., The Pantry, Inc., and Morgan’s Foods, Inc., as well as U.S. Geothermal Inc. From 2007 until 2009, he was a private investor, in addition to consulting with several businesses. From 2005 until 2007, he worked in the Investment Banking/Leveraged Finance Division of Goldman Sachs, where he advised private equity groups and corporations on appropriate leveraged buyout, recapitalization and refinancing alternatives. Prior to that, he was an investment banker at Banc of America Securities, where he focused on consumer and retail investment banking. He currently also serves as Secretary for the Endowment Advisory Board of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Houston and on the Methodist Hospital Gastro Division’s Advisory Board in Houston. Mr. Pappas received a BBA in Information Technology, and a Master of Finance from Texas A&M University.

Ms. Varnado currently serves as the GM and Head of the Consumer Business for Kohler Company, a global leader in home products, hospitality destinations, and systems. In this role, Ms. Varnado is directly responsible for consumer channels including Kohler Signature Stores as well as e-commerce sales on kohler.com. She leads a team of 250+ spanning store operations, e-commerce, digital experience, DTC marketing, customer care, and dealer-direct business. Ms. Varnado previously served as Vice President and Head of Strategy & Business Development for both Macy’s Inc. and Williams-Sonoma, Inc., and began her career as a corporate banking analyst with Citigroup. Ms. Varnado also currently serves as Director of publicly-traded Umpqua Bank (NASDAQ: UMPQ) and is a member of the Finance & Capital Committee and Compensation Committee. Ms. Varnado holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Clark Atlanta University. She volunteers with numerous nonprofit and charitable organizations, including Junior League, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, and HBS Community Partners. In 2018, the San Francisco Business Times named her one of the "Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business." Ms. Varnado has been featured in Forbes, Architectural Digest, and other industry and consumer publications.