BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toast, the fastest-growing restaurant management platform, today announced that Susan Chapman-Hughes has been appointed to the company's board of directors, effective immediately.

A proven leader of transformation and innovation, Susan Chapman-Hughes most recently served as the EVP/GM of Global Digital Capabilities, Transformation and Operations in the Global Commercial Services (GDCT&O) division of American Express. In this capacity, she led a global team which drove the digital transformation of the business customer experience, leveraging big data, predictive analytics, and machine learning to power business strategy and results. Prior to American Express, Susan held a variety of senior-level roles at Fortune 500 companies in the financial services and technology sectors.

Chris Comparato, CEO of Toast, said: “I am delighted to welcome Susan to the Toast Board of Directors. As a seasoned business transformation and payments executive, she brings to Toast critical knowledge as well as a deep passion for — and history working with — the restaurant industry. We expect to benefit from her firsthand experience implementing new technologies and innovations and using data to drive strategy and results. As the Toast restaurant community continues to move toward recovery following the impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis, Susan will be a valuable addition to our Board.”

“Toast’s customer-centric approach, leadership position in the restaurant industry, and its success in democratizing technology for restaurants of all sizes makes it an exciting time to join the team,” said Susan Chapman-Hughes. “Working alongside my fellow board members, I look forward to leveraging my decades of experience in the fintech space to help further Toast’s mission to empower restaurants to succeed in today’s environment.”

Currently, Ms. Chapman-Hughes serves as a Director of the J.M. Smucker Company where she is a member of the compensation committee. She also served as a director for Potbelly Corporation where she led both the Compensation and Audit Committees. Ms. Chapman-Hughes was recently named one of “The Elite 100” by Diversity Woman, recognized as one of the Most Influential Women in Payments by PaymentsSource, named to the “Grio 100” by Grio.com/NBC Universal, and, listed as one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company. She is committed to volunteer work for non- profit community development; served as Vice Chair and Finance Committee Chair for The National Trust for Historic Preservation and previously held trustee positions with A Better Chance, and Girls Inc.

Ms. Chapman-Hughes joins current board members: Steve Papa, founder and CEO of Endeca (sold to Oracle for $1B in 2011) and current founder and CEO of Parallel Wireless; Kent Bennett, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners; Paul Bell, operating partner at Lead Edge Capital; David Yuan, General Partner, TCV; and, Mark Hawkins, President & CFO Emeritus Advisor at Salesforce.

Restaurant owners and operators can learn more about Toast and schedule a personalized demo here.

About Toast

Launched in 2013, Toast is democratizing technology for restaurants of all sizes. Built exclusively for restaurants and driven by a passion to enable their success, Toast connects employees, operations, and guests on an easy-to-use platform so restaurateurs can stay one step ahead of a rapidly evolving hospitality market. Tens of thousands of restaurants partner with Toast to increase revenue, streamline operations, retain great employees, and create raving fans. Toast was named to Fortune’s 2020 Best Workplaces in Technology, 2020 Forbes Fintech 50, 2020 Forbes Cloud 100, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2020 Listing - National Overall Winner, and the 2019 SXSW Interactive Innovation Finals. Learn more at www.toasttab.com.