Elior North America announces leadership promotions and new hires to support growth

Elior North America, one of the nation’s leading foodservice operators in contract catering and hospitality services, announced three leadership promotions and two new hires that will support the company’s new stage of growth and innovation.

Trish Spellman – promoted to president of Healthcare & Senior Living

Since joining Elior North America’s healthcare and senior living company, Cura Hospitality, in 2016, Spellman has served as the vice president of operations, most recently as managing director, and now as president of Healthcare & Senior Living at Elior North America. She is a seasoned leader with nearly 30 years of experience in contract-managed services operations working for leading organizations in the U.S. and internationally. Throughout her career, Spellman has demonstrated her ability to drive organizational and financial results through disciplined execution, process improvement, quality, and customer focus, while developing talent. She has a proven track record of building performance-based relationships with clients and leading transformational change and will continue to lead the segment with her expertise in the healthcare industry in acute care and senior living markets.

Paul Kowalczyk – promoted to president of Education

Kowalczyk is a 30-year veteran in contract food management with a primary focus on the education market. He joined Aladdin in 1999 as a district manager, was promoted to vice president of operations in 2009, and served as managing director since 2018. He has played an instrumental role in the strategy and growth of Aladdin, from the regional company it was when he joined to the national presence it holds today. His role has expanded from overseeing the higher education division of Aladdin Campus Dining and Lexington Independents to include the K-12 by Elior company with the newly created Education segment of Elior North America.

John Kirk – promoted to president of Community Meals

Kirk leads Elior North America’s Community Meals segment, which includes TRIO Community Meals (the nation’s largest provider of senior nutrition meals), Traditions (USDA meal manufacturing), and LiveWell with Traditions (meal delivery for Managed Care Organizations and Medicare Advantage Plans). In 2022, Elior North America expanded its offerings with the launch of LiveWell with Traditions to provide customized, home-delivered meals for health plan, MA Plans, and MCO members. Under Kirk’s leadership, TRIO Community Meals and LiveWell with Traditions will deliver nutritious meals, provide exemplary service and engage in strong client partnerships nationally.

Tom Heim joins Elior North America as general counsel

From startups to Fortune 500 clients and state pension systems, Heim has more than 20 years of legal counseling experience across various sectors including the hospitality, healthcare and finance industries. Heim brings his extensive experience to Elior North America including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, investments, financings, commercial contracting, healthcare and other regulatory compliance, and corporate governance, and will provide expert and strategic legal advice and leadership to Elior North America and its companies.

Chris Aquilino joins Elior North America as culinary development chef

Aquilino will lead menu innovation, concept development and sustainable culinary solutions at Elior North America that will inspire chefs and customers across all of ENA’s business segments. Additionally, with a shared commitment to green practices and reducing food waste, Aquilino will work closely with the corporate development team to create sustainable programs that support Elior’s Doing Good mission. Aquilino has been the owner/principal of a full-service, end-to-end foodservice consultant agency, served as the culinary director of Charlotte’s Lab Test Kitchen, and prior to that, served as the corporate executive chef of Envision Group for Compass Group.

“We are proud to celebrate these well-deserved promotions and new additions to Elior North America,” Olivier Poirot, president and CEO of Elior North America, said in the announcement. We recognize the growing caliber of talent in our organization and are well positioned for future growth and continued exceptional outcomes for our clients.”