Karen Garcia

A career journey that started with a part-time job cooking fries in a San Diego McDonald’s and then led to managing the McDonald’s restaurant that Company Founder Ray Kroc overlooked from his office has become a 35-year career passion for Karen Garcia.

Today, Garcia is responsible for nearly 900 McDonald’s restaurants in Florida and South Georgia as Vice President and General Manager of McDonald’s USA’s Florida Region.

Garcia runs the largest of McDonald’s USA’s 22 regions, serving one million guests each day across the Sunshine State and generating annual sales of more than $2 billion. In her role as the region’s chief executive, Garcia leads all aspects of market and brand development to drive long-term growth for McDonald’s in Florida and its 180 franchisees. More than 50,000 people work in McDonald’s restaurants in Florida.

Garcia was appointed to lead the Region in April 2012.

From 2009 to 2012, Garcia was Vice President and General Manager of McDonald’s USA’s Pittsburgh Region. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Operations for McDonald’s USA’s Southern California Region.

Garcia has helped her teams reach the next frontier of success in every role. She has established a reputation as a passionate, results-driven leader who role models the McDonald’s Values and serves as a people champion. With a high degree of respect and admiration for Ray Kroc, she lives Kroc’s legacy of high customer satisfaction standards, bold entrepreneurialism, disciplined execution, and love for McDonald’s.

Committed to contributing to her communities, Garcia previously served on the Boards of Directors of Ronald McDonald House Charities in San Diego and in Pittsburgh, and currently serves on the Board of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF). The Fund is the nation’s largest non-profit organization devoted to providing college scholarships for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Since 2003, APIASF has distributed more than $70 million in scholarships.

OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans, presented Garcia with its prestigious Corporate Achievement Award in 2007.

When Garcia was growing up in Baker, Montana, (pop. 1,741) the closest McDonald’s restaurant was 364 miles away. Today, she resides in the Tampa Bay, Florida area with her husband, Mario. They have two grown children, Mario and Erica. The nearest McDonald’s is right up the street.