Board of Directors

Joseph Boehm has served as our director since October 2017 and was appointed Chairman effective March 2021. Since January 2021, Mr. Boehm has served as Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Provider Real Estate Partners, a real estate fund management company. Prior to Provider Real Estate Partners, Mr. Boehm served as a Director and Portfolio Manager at Ancora Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor, since April 2014. Prior to Ancora, Mr. Boehm was an Investment Analyst at Sigma Capital Management, a hedge fund, from 2013 through March 2014. From 2010 to 2013,Mr. Boehm was an investment banking associate at Deutsche Bank Securities. Mr. Boehm also currently serves as a director for the First Tee of Cleveland.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: Italian

Vann Avedisian has served as our director since March 2021. Mr. Avedisian is the founder and Managing Director of Intrinsic Investment Holdings, a real estate and private equity vehicle (“Intrinsic”). From 2010 through 2021, Intrinsic partnered programmatically with Highgate Holdings, a fully integrated real estate investment firm that has acquired in excess of $10 billion of real estate assets and manages over 150+ hotels comprising approximately 40,000 rooms. Prior to founding Intrinsic, Mr. Avedisian co-founded Oxford Capital Partners (“Oxford”) and directed its real estate principal investments with an aggregate value in excess of $1 billion. Prior to founding Oxford, Mr. Avedisian was a Vice President at LaSalle Partners and a Director and Shareholder of Citizens National Bank of Lake Geneva. Mr. Avedisian is currently on the Board of Trustees of the William Blair Mutual Funds where he is Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and also serves on the Audit and Compliance Committees. Mr. Avedisian previously served on the Company’s Board of Directors from 2001 to 2015 and was Chairman of the Compensation and Organization Committee.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: Chicken salad with hot peppers

Adrian Butler has served as our director since May 2019. He currently serves as Chief Technology Officer for Foot Locker, Inc., a retailer of athletic footwear and sportswear. Mr. Butler served from 2020 to 2023 as Chief Information Officer for Casey’s General Stores, a convenience store operator. From 2015 to 2020, he held the positions of Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Dine Brands Global, Inc., a full-service dining company and franchisor of Applebee’s Grill + Bar and IHOP. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Butler was Vice President in the Technology Services division of Target Corporation.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: Italian

David Head has served as our director since August 2019. Mr. Head currently serves as a Senior Advisor and Board Director for Authentic Restaurant Brands, which owns a portfolio of regional casual dining restaurants, and Senior Advisor and Operating Partner to Garnett Station Partners an investment firm specializing in the food and beverage, health and wellness, automotive and business services sectors. He also serves as a Director for Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, a polished-casual chain of restaurants headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. From January 2012 to December 2022, Mr. Head served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Primanti Brothers, which owns and operates a chain of casual dining restaurants. Mr. Head’s previous roles include Chief Executive Officer of O’Charley’s, which owns and operates a chain of casual dining restaurants, from 2010 to 2012 and Chief Executive Officer of Captain D’s LLC, which owns and operates a chain of quick service seafood restaurants, from 2006 to 2010. Prior to joining Captain D’s LLC, Mr. Head served as the Chief Executive Officer of Romacorp, which operates and franchises Tony Romas’ restaurants around the world and as the Chief Executive Officer of Houlihan’s Restaurant Group, which operates casual restaurant and bar locations throughout the United States. Mr. Head previously served as a director of Bob Evans Farms, O’Charley’s, Captain D’s, Sagittarius Brands and Imvescor.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: A Wreck

David Near has served as our director since May 2020. Mr. Near has been the managing partner of Ramen Tatsuya Holdings LLC, which manages Tatsuya Brands, since 2014, as well as the owner and co-president of Pisces Foods, L.P., a restaurant operating company, since 1995. In addition, Mr. Near previously operated The Wendy’s Company restaurants as a franchisee from 1995 to 2012. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Near served as the Chief Operations Officer at The Wendy’s Company, which owns and operates a chain of quick service restaurants, where he was responsible for global operations, franchising, new store development, and served as a board member of Wendy’s National Advertising Program.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: A Wreck

Dave Pearson has served as our director since April 2022. Mr. Pearson is currently serving as a board member for Lee Enterprises and Magnite, both of which operate within the media industry. From May 2013 to August 2020, Mr. Pearson was the Chief Financial Officer of Vonage, where he was responsible for managing the Finance, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations departments. From May 2013 to August 2020, Mr. Pearson served as the Managing Director and Global Media & Telecom Group Head within Deutsche Bank’s investment banking services. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Pearson held three different positions within the Technology, Media & Telecom investment banking practice at Goldman Sachs, most recently as Managing Director. Mr. Pearson received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.B. in Political Science and Organizational Behavior from Brown University.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: A Wreck with Pickles

Jill Sutton has served as our director since March 2022. Ms. Sutton currently serves on the board of Miller Industries, Inc., a tow truck and towing equipment manufacturer, and Pitney Bowes, Inc., a global shipping and mailing company. Ms. Sutton was the Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of United Natural Foods, Inc., the largest publicly traded grocery distributor in America, from May 2018 to December 2021. From July2015 to January 2018, Ms. Sutton served as Deputy General Counsel, and was Corporate Secretary, of General Motors Company, a multinational automotive manufacturing company. From May 2006 to January 2015, Ms. Sutton served in various roles of increasing accountability at Tim Hortons, Inc., then a publicly traded company, which owns and operates quick service restaurants, including serving as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining Tim Hortons, Inc., Ms. Sutton served as Corporate Counsel for The Wendy’s Company, which owns and operates a chain of quick service restaurants.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: Italian with extra hot peppers

Robert D. Wright has served as our President and CEO and a director since July 2020. Prior to joining Potbelly, Mr. Wright served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, International of The Wendy’s Company, which owns and operates a chain of quick service restaurants, from May 2016 to May 2019 and Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer from December 2013 to May 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Wright served in leadership roles with other restaurant brands, including Charley’s Philly Steaks, Checker’s Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. and Domino’s Pizza, Inc.

Favorite Potbelly menu item: Italian on white with peppers, mustard, lettuce and pickles