Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) today announced the recipients of the 2007 WFF Trailblazer Award and WFF Emerging Leader Award. The awards recognize individuals who have made a significant, positive impact on the organization and the industry as a whole. The winners will be formally announced during the Emerging Leader Awards Dinner on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at the WFF Annual Leadership Development Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Pat Anton, president of the Anton Family Foundation and former WFF chair, will receive the 2007 WFF Trailblazer Award. Sponsored by General Mills, the Trailblazer Award is a prestigious and high profile accolade for individuals who are dedicated to improving the industry through their support of gender diversity, creating new pathways for women in their company, and implementing them at all levels of their organization.

“General Mills is proud to sponsor the prestigious Trailblazer Award and to join the WFF and the industry in recognizing this year’s recipient, Pat Anton,” said John Machuzick, president, General Mills Foodservice. “Pat has made a lasting positive impact on gender diversity and career advancement for women both as a role model and through her inspiration to others. We congratulate Pat for her many achievements and for receiving this great honor.”

As Co-Founder and former President/CEO of Anton Airfood, Inc. (AAI), promoting gender and minority diversity has been a key foundation of Anton Airfood’s hiring, training and management practices from the company’s earliest days. Women consistently make up approximately 50 percent of the manager/supervisor positions at Anton Airfood. In the spring of 2005, 106 women out of a total 223 were serving in those capacities. Ms. Anton has also mentored countless young women at her company and the industry and has been a major benefactor of such high-impact projects as the Hospitality Business Alliance, an educational partnership with the National Restaurant Association.

Lynette McKee, vice president of franchising and new business development, Dunkin’ Brands Inc, will receive the highly esteemed WFF Emerging Leader Award. This honor, which is sponsored by Ecolab, is awarded each year to a woman executive in the foodservice industry who shows exceptional leadership qualities, both within her company and the industry, and whose professional growth and achievements are recognized through career advancement.

McKee has also served on a variety of committees and boards to maintain her involvement and growth within the industry including the International Franchise Association, Women’s Foodservice Forum, Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance and National Minority Franchise Initiative, among many others.