PBN 2025 DIVERSITY EQUITY & INCLUSION AWARDS
Food/Beverage: Feast and Fettle Inc.
At Feast & Fettle INC., diversity, equity and inclusion policies aren’t just a part of a recruiting and hiring process. The East Providence meal delivery service provider makes these practices an important part of each employee’s career, offering them opportunities for advancement and development throughout their time with the company.
“Once team members are in the door, our responsibility is to invest in their growth,” said Kyla Hanaway-Quinlan, chief operating officer and head of people. “Most of our team starts in entry-level roles, and we’ve worked to ensure those roles are a starting point, not a ceiling. We offer clear paths forward, supported by coaching and role clarity, so that advancement feels possible and earned. We prioritize promoting people with firsthand knowledge of the work because that proximity builds trust across teams. Over time, this approach has helped us build leadership that reflects both the people doing the work and the communities we serve.”
DEI isn’t a separate initiative but rather is built into the very fabric of how Feast & Fettle operates, Hanaway-Quinlan said. In addition to removing automatic disqualifiers and using structured interviews in the hiring process, the company includes partnerships with organizations like OpenDoors Amos House and Spurwink to help connect with talented candidates who might often be overlooked by traditional systems.
“We do not just look at who we hire,” Hanaway-Quinlan said. “We track how people move through the company, how leadership evolves and whether opportunity is truly shared. From pay bands to promotion pathways, our systems are designed to support growth across a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. Our internal metrics focus on representation at every level, including compensation and decision-making roles. We hold ourselves accountable to ensure the people shaping the strategy reflect the team executing it. That alignment, between structure, experience and voice, is what makes our DEI work real and what makes it sustainable.”
The belief that success starts when people can see a future for themselves at Feast & Fettle and truly believe that future is within reach is what the company aims for through its DEI efforts and how it builds internal systems, designs roles and makes business decisions. To that end, a huge emphasis is placed on movement within the company – who is advancing, who is staying and whether access to opportunity is consistent across roles, departments and identities.
In addition to providing an average wage increase of $5,000 for team members last year and boasting a retention rate of 93%, Feast & Fettle scrupulously measures representation across departments and pay bands to understand where gaps exist and where growth is happening. While the metrics help the company stay accountable, Hanaway-Quinlan said, they are in service of something much deeper – creating a workplace where people don’t just work but grow, lead and stay.
In fact, Feast & Fettle intentionally placed “people” and “operations” under the same leadership, placing DEI at the center of every decision.
“It keeps us close to what’s really happening with the team and gives us the ability to act fast when something isn’t working,” CEO Carlos Ventura said. “Inclusion only matters if it changes how people experience work day to day. When people feel supported and see real opportunity, they stay longer, perform better and care more about the outcome. DEI isn’t a side initiative; it’s a performance lever. If it’s not delivering results, it usually means the design is wrong, not the idea. If equity and mobility aren’t built into how you hire, promote and operate, it’s just a press release. Real DEI shows up in the structure of the company and how people move through it.”
Having worked in the hospitality industry herself, Hanaway-Quinlan has a very personal appreciation for what it feels like to be part of a workforce that keeps a business running but rarely gets a say in how it’s built – a driving force behind her wanting to create a workplace grounded in clarity, fairness and care.
“I care about building systems that serve the people often overlooked – not just to offer a job but to create a sense of community inside the business,” Hanaway-Quinlan said. “Work should be something that connects us, not divides us. Implementing DEI is not about flipping a switch or finding the perfect template. It is a daily, often messy process of listening, learning and adjusting. You have to be willing to pivot when something is not working and keep going, even when the results are not immediate. The work is slow and nonlinear, and that is exactly why it has to be rooted in trust, in lived experience and in the courage to try again when the first attempt misses the mark.”
