Cheryl VanAllen is the Director of Talent Strategy and People Insights for KFC U.S. where she oversees the brand’s people agenda, including talent management, recruitment, total rewards, business partners, and people analytics. Cheryl has been with Yum! Brands for 10 years. Prior to Yum Brands! Cheryl was at UPS for 13 years in a variety of operations and HR roles. Cheryl has spent most of her career in the learning and development space, heavily focused on culture and growing organizational, functional, and leadership capabilities to drive meaningful business impact. Cheryl’s leadership principles are grounded in integrity, optimism, joy, and authenticity. Cheryl pours her passion into people wherever she is, with her own personal mission to help people see their full potential and growth. Cheryl formally sat on the board for Women Influencing Louisville to support the mission of growing women in leadership capabilities and creating a broader network of women leaders within Louisville.
Family and friends are critically important to Cheryl as she grew up in a large family and considers many of her friends as part of her extended family. She and her husband enjoy spending much of their time toting their three children around with the various carpools to manage their growing soccer and sports “careers” and social lives. Cheryl loves to read, but mostly you’ll find her listening to an audio book. Most recently, Cheryl’s love for food has moved beyond KFC as Cheryl and her family have developed a love for cooking together and experimenting in the kitchen.