John Barker has 30+ years of business experience with consumer centric organizations including the restaurant industry, greeting cards/social expressions, non-profit entities and universities. He was also a journalist and an editor for several years.

• He is currently President & CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association, a business trade association with a mission focused on promoting and protecting the restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industry, and is CEO of the ORA Education Foundation.
• Barker teaches at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, including MBA marketing courses and senior capstone in Strategic Management, and has been an adjunct professor at Ohio State since 2011.
• Previously, from 1996-2014, he was a member of the executive leadership team and Senior Vice President & Chief Communications Officer at The Wendy’s Company, one of the largest restaurant companies in the world. The Wendy’s Company owned and operated foodservice brands, including Wendy’s, Tim Hortons, Arby’s, Baja Fresh, Café Express, Pasta Pomodoro and The New Bakery. In his executive leadership roles, Barker has directed Corporate Strategic Planning, Executive Communications, Board of Directors/Corporate Governance, Corporate Public Relations, Marketing/PR, Media Relations, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Corporate Website, Employee Communications, Franchisee Communications, Investor Relations, Government Relations, Crisis Management and Facilities Management.
• Barker previously worked at American Greetings Corp., The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland, The Times, Cosmopolitan Fitness, Washington Observer-Reporter and in other media organizations.
• Over the past two decades, he’s worked with many of the world’s leading consulting companies, investment bankers, marketing/advertising and investor relations firms including Booz Allen, Boston Consulting Company, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, RBC Capital Markets, Credit Suisse, Bank of America, UBS, Kekst & Co., Ketchum PR, Dilenschneider, Burson-Marsteller, ICR, McCann Erickson, Saatchi and Saatchi and Publicis Kaplan Thaler.
• Barker earned an MBA from The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and is a graduate of Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania.
• He has served as a trustee on the Board of Directors of The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, where he is on the investment committee. He is on the board of Ohio Dominican University, where he is the Vice Chairman and Chair of the Governance and Trustee Development Committee. He is on the Executive Committee of the Board for the Council of State Restaurant Associations.
• He previously served as a director for Catholic Social Services and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and was President of the National Investor Relations Institute (Central Ohio).