Frank J. Belatti (Co-Moderator)

Managing Partner, Equicorp Partners, LLC

For more than 40 years, Frank Belatti has earned the reputation of being an indomitable corporate leader, most notably in the food and hospitality industry, as well as being recognized as a strong advocate for social justice.

His involvement with consumer packaged goods companies, Avon and Ralston Purina, and franchising giants Arby’s, Hospitality Franchise Systems, and AFC Enterprises, has provided for a wide array of brand-building experiences and the ability to provide long-term business opportunity for independent operators in more than 30 countries.

As founder of AFC Enterprises, Belatti was elected chairman and CEO for one of the worlds premiere franchisors in 1992. After turning around the financial fortunes of Church’s Chicken and Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits, AFC acquired Cinnabon and Seattle’s Best Coffee companies, before going public in 2001.

Today, Belatti’s business acumen and global vision are focused on Equicorp Partners, an Atlanta-based private investment and advisory partnership that he co-founded in 2005. As Managing Partner, he and his colleagues provide expertise to private equity firms and strategic partners, and oversee a portfolio of diverse investments. Since 2006, he has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame, teaching Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing in the Mendoza College of Business.

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