Speaker

Laura Shapira Karet is the Founder and CEO of Who Brew LLC, a dedicated franchisee of 7 Brew Coffee with territories in Chicago and Nashville, set on revolutionizing the drive-through coffee experience. 

Laura has over 33 years of leadership experience in the retail and consumer sectors. In her previous role as the Chair and CEO of Giant Eagle, Inc., Laura led a transformation of the 95-year-old company, growing it to over $11.5 billion in sales and nearly 500 stores. During Laura's time as CEO, Giant Eagle expanded into new regions, pushed the organization toward next-generation technology and capabilities, and enabled Giant Eagle to stay ahead of ever-evolving trends in retail. She was instrumental in growing Giant Eagle's digital offerings and building its customer loyalty programs. 

Prior to her tenure at Giant Eagle, Inc, Laura held significant roles in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble and Sara Lee. 

Laura's corporate board memberships include ARKO, a publicly traded Fortune 500 company and the 6th largest convenience store chain in the US. There she serves on the Audit and Nominating and Governance committees. She is also a Director of the Crane Group, a large and growing family-owned corporation with a diverse portfolio of brands.

Beyond her corporate work, Laura is deeply committed to economic and workforce development, food insecurity, and public policy. She is a trustee for The Brookings Institution, one of the foremost nonprofit public policy organizations in the country, as well as a member of The Council on Foreign Relations, the top foreign policy organization. She is a past chair of the Food Industry Association's (FMI) Public Affairs Committee and is a trustee for The Committee for Economic Development (CED), serving on the Infrastructure and Preserving Democratic Institutions committees. 

Locally, Laura serves the Pittsburgh region as Chair of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, one of the nation's leading  economic and community development organizations. She is an active board director for various noteworthy organizations, including The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, The Pittsburgh Foundation, a community foundation with over $1.6B in assets under management where she chairs the Audit and Finance Committees, and the Allegheny County Parks Foundation where she serves on the Audit Committee. She is also Vice President of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and serves on the board of the Holy Family Institute. 

Laura graduated from Amherst College with a bachelor's degree in English and resides in the Pittsburgh area with her husband and three children.