Bernadette Ventura · Managing Principal

Bernadette Ventura has been a leader in the hospitality industry for over 25 years with roles spanning from “on the ground” operations to positions driving local and global business. 

After a ten-year progressive career with Marriott International, Bernadette held positions leading hospitality strategy and operations for American Express, Marsh & McLennan and Blue Cross Blue Shield.   As the Director of Business Consulting with Cini-Little International, Bernadette consulted with numerous organizations in the B&I, Higher Education, Healthcare, Cultural, Government and Private Restaurant sectors, providing customized solutions and delivering best-in-class results.

Bernadette is passionate about service and enhancing the experience of customers. She has a proven record of driving engagement and successfully combines industry trends with personalized customer wishes, creating unique solutions for each client.

For 5-years, Bernadette was an influential board member at the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management (SHFM), and in 2016 served as its president. In 2018, she served as a Hennessy Traveler evaluating multiple Air Force foodservice operations internationally.

Bernadette holds a BS in Business Administration and has been recognized with several industry awards, including an Honorary Doctorate of Foodservice from NAFEM.

Bill Seufert · Principal

Bill’s enthusiasm for the hospitality industry started while managing a group of small hospitality businesses and, in 1985 he joined Marriott International.

During his 35-year hospitality career, Bill has held several leadership positions in Operations, Marketing, District and National Accounts, often overseeing 20+ client sites.  Most recently, Bill held the role of Senior Manager, Operational Excellence for Sodexo.   Bill has often served as a mentor to junior managers, providing coaching, knowledge sharing and management training.

Bill’s exceptional and diverse career includes project leadership of multi-million-dollar café renovations and start-ups of several large corporate campus dining and retail outlets featuring multiple points of service.  Bill provided leadership in the opening of hospitality operations at The Smithsonian National Zoo, TD Bank Canada, UMass Medical School, MIT Lincoln Labs, University of Albany, Vermont State College System, Delta Sky Clubs and GSK Navy Yard, to name a few.

Bill’s passion for providing excellent customer service and his attention to detail has provided him with the honor of serving many prestigious clients including Morgan Stanley, White & Case, Virgin Atlantic, Macquarie Capital, BBDO, Bank of Nova Scotia, Equitable/AXA, Merrill Lynch, NOKIA and Sun Trust.

Bill has a degree in Business Administration and is currently trained as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Chef Alan McDonald · Culinary Advisor

As a teenager, Chef Alan McDonald walked into a restaurant kitchen and fell in love with the industry.  Food has since been Alan’s passion, and during his prestigious career as corporate chef, executive chef, consultant, keynote speaker and author, he earned the coveted Certified Executive Chef (CEC) designation.

After graduating Johnson and Wales, Al completed his internship with Hyatt Hotels training under German, French, Swiss and Italian Chefs.  Chef later joined Marriott International where he led large food & beverage teams, including those for multiple Super Bowls.  During his tenure at Marriott, Chef Al won the Ivy award for the best institutional food service in America.

Chef later joined Brinker as Corporate Chef for Corner Bakery, where he developed and implemented menus, safety and operational standards nationwide.  Chef took his expertise to companies including H.J. Heinz, Kagome and CTI, serving as Corporate Chef and driving new culinary programs around the globe.  In addition to customizing solutions for clients at those organizations, Al has done work as an independent consultant throughout his career.

Chef Al has been the culinary expertise behind hundreds of successful global product launches.  From the first day that teenager stepped into the kitchen, Chef Al’s passion to the industry has been unwavering.

Patrick Celentano · Web & Social Media Support

From a young age, Patrick has had a knack for technology and a love of learning, making a career in software a no-brainer. Graduating with a BS in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the spring of 2017, Patrick moved to Boston to work for the wifi-speaker company, Sonos. There, he’s worked on projects from an Android Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) stack to C++ framework development to SQL data processing and analysis- any and all things software.

Now, he works not only as an app developer, but a web site designer and all-around “data guy.” With 4 years of industry experience, Patrick is excited to continue his career in the tech industry while bringing the best of its practices to food and beyond.