20 Dec Professional Development Program: Women Taking the Lead
The Challenge
Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) engaged Spark EQ to create, deliver and facilitate a professional development program to equip and empower approximately 50 female leaders at Brinker International (Brinker). The selected female leaders are a part of Brinker’s Women Taking the Lead program.
Brinker is one of the world’s leading casual dining restaurant companies and home of Chili’s® Grill & Bar, Maggiano’s Little Italy® and virtual brand: It’s Just Wings®. Brinker owns, operates an/or franchises more than 1,600 restaurants in 29 countries and two U.S. territories. Brinker has the pleasure of serving more than 1,000,000 guests every day by more than 100,000 team members.
“Jennifer did an amazing job facilitating, connecting with the DEI Team, and overall supporting our employee cohort. I am glad to call her a friend as an outcome of this engagement.” – T. Jones-Still, VP, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The Solution
park EQ founder and executive coach Jennifer Howell designed a three-month cohort program for approximately 50 female leaders, combining group coaching, best practices, and hands-on tools across three core focus areas:
- Personal Brand & Visibility — defining and communicating a distinct professional presence.
- Influence & Relationships — building networks and increasing influence within the organization.
- Confidence & Resilience — strengthening the mindset to navigate setbacks and lead with conviction.
The program included ongoing mentorship office hours to reinforce learning between sessions.
“I absolutely loved Jennifer Howell as the presenter of this program. She was warm, confident and most importantly relatable. All of the topics she presented were done with storytelling, humor, examples, exercises and group sharing. The huddles were also a great idea for deeper dives. The amount of information presented was just right (not too much or too little).” – Program Participant
The Results
- Delivered professional development and mentorship to approximately 50 female leaders in Brinker’s Women Taking the Lead cohort.
- Built a foundation of durable skills, including personal branding, networking, confidence, and resilience that participants can continue to apply throughout their careers.
- 100% of surveyed participants reported increased confidence across every competency covered in the program.
- Created a safe, engaging space that strengthened community and belonging among participants.
- Reinforced Brinker’s brand and its investment in developing its people.