Katie Lewis is the Executive Director of the Burger King Foundation, leading transformative initiatives that align with the Foundation’s mission to empower individuals through education and community support. Under her leadership, the Foundation has achieved remarkable milestones, including raising a record-breaking $9.1 million in 2024 to fund scholarships and innovative programs like the “Crown a Classroom” initiative, which provides essential school supplies to over 100,000 students.
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John: Welcome to another edition of the Impact Podcast. I’m John Shegerian. I’m so honored to have with us today, Katie Lewis. She’s the Executive Director of the Burger King Foundation. And welcome, Katie, for your first turn on the Impact Podcast.
Katie Lewis: Thank you so much. I’m honored to be here.
John: We’re honored to have you. Before we get talking about all the important and impactful work you and your colleagues are doing at the Burger King Foundation, I’d love you to share a little bit about the Katie Lewis story. Where did you grow up, and how did you get on this very important journey that you’re on?
Katie: Yeah, sure. I grew up in Miami, born and raised, and I grew up in a small town right outside of Miami, and so it didn’t feel so much like the city, and I enjoyed that as a kid. I got to ride my bike around and do all the things kids love to do. Fast forward, I went to the University of Miami, and then I got my master’s at Florida International University. And while I was doing my undergrad, I come from a working class family and needed a job, and I landed myself a job in a fundraising office at the university over at the cancer center actually, and I was processing checks. I started out doing check processing, and from there, it just evolved. I never envisioned being a fundraising professional or a nonprofit professional. It just happened, and I love it, and I’ve been in this space ever since. So that’s a little bit about me.
John: What year did you join Burger King Foundation?
Katie: I joined back in 2022. I just hit my three-year anniversary, actually.
John: For our listeners and viewers, just to have a little bit more background on Burger King, if you haven’t had the pleasure to eat there like I have and so many other billions of people across the planet. Over 27 billion in revenue per year around the world. Over 34,000 employees served in over 100 countries. And for our listeners of yours, it will be in the show notes. But you can find of course, Katie at www.burgerkingfoundation.org and of course, if you want to learn more about Burger King, you go to www.bk.com, and those websites will be in the show notes. Katie, what is the mission of the Burger King Foundation?
Katie: I very simply, I like to say we like to empower people, and we mostly do that through education. We have a scholarship program, and about two or so years ago, we launched another program called Crown a Classroom. So those have been our flagship programs. And like I said, we like to say that we empower people.
John: You have the BK Scholars Program, which is awarded over $60 million to over 55,000 students since its inception. When was it conceived and launched?
Katie: That happened back in 2000. The foundation itself didn’t happen until many years later. The scholarship program was really what happened first. And it was to honor our co-founder, Jim McLemore. He had received a scholarship himself and was a big believer in how scholar scholarships could really change the trajectory of someone’s life. And so it was started for Jim.
John: What scholarships are these, and who’s eligible for these fellowships?
Katie: Anybody can get a scholarship. They range from $1,000, which may not seem like much now, but that can help with books and other supplies and things like that. And they go all the way up to $60,000. And like I said, anybody can apply.
John: And these are in the United States; these 55,000 students that have matriculated since its inception has been in the United States.
Katie: Correct.
John: Over $60 million have been awarded. Talk a little bit about some of the stories that have touched you, the success stories of these scholarships that have touched you and makes you excited to do the great work that you’re doing and the impactful work that you’re doing.
Katie: There’s so many stories, John. I mean, every year we get one that I’m like, “Oh, this is the one.” But all of them are so special, it’s like choosing a favorite child. You could never. I can’t do it. And so they’re all very touching and special to me. And I see myself in all these kids. Like, I came again from a working class neighborhood, and I could have been, I could be one of these kids. You know, I could have benefited from a scholarship, unfortunately, had nobody in my life to tell me to apply for these things. And so I just look at these kids and know that that could have been me.
John: Last year, you raised over $9.1 million, which exceeded your fundraising milestones. Talk a little bit about fundraising, and I hate to use this terminology, but it’s overused post-COVID world. Now that Zoom and Teams have become ubiquitous, how much of the fundraising do you do? Do you rely on technology? How much is it still nose-to-nose business? How does that work with the new realities that we’re facing with the technological revolution, but also the importance of soft skills and hard skills?
Katie: We’ve got two buckets, I would say two large buckets of fundraising within the foundation. One is what we call in-restaurant fundraising. So that’s your getting to the register, and your check is $4.50. Do you want to round up your check, or do you want to buy a coupon? And so there’s that. And so a lot of that happens on its own. The person at the register knows to ask. And so that is very face to face. But then we have kiosks and restaurants. And we have the app. That’s a whole another facet. So at the end of a check, somebody gets asked if they want to give to the foundation. So that’s where all the technology comes in for us. And then the other big bucket is events. And so we have a couple of events throughout the year that the proceeds come back to the foundation, and then that becomes very much a fundraising initiative. You know, you’re talking to your vendors, “Hey, do you want to support?” And that’s very face to face. That’s very relational. I spent some time at United Way before my life here at Burger King, and I did major gifts, and that was very much what we did at United Way. And so it comes naturally to me. I know how to get sponsors and major donors. What happens with us is that we’re in Miami, and a lot of our vendors aren’t here, so we end up doing a lot of Zoom and Teams anyway. And then we don’t see our vendor until the event happens. It’s interesting.
John: Yeah, very interesting. So if I walked into a Burger King today, if I ordered a Whopper, and I can round up on my bill to donate to the BK Scholars Program?
Katie: Correct. You can ask to do it at any time. They’ll do it for you. But we also do windows, so we usually do about four windows a year just to give the person at the register some relief. Always having to ask, we don’t want them to go through fatigue. So we do windows here. But there’s some restaurants that leave it on all the time, or if you walk in and you ask for it, they’ll do it for you.
John: And then they also have a kiosk in a lot of the restaurants?
Katie: They do. You’ll find, I wouldn’t say it’s in a lot of restaurants, it’s something that we’re doing. You’ll find that you’re going to see a lot more remodeled restaurants. And in those restaurants, you should see some kiosks.
John: And at any point, whether at the register or at the kiosk, is there any storytelling going on to make me get more excited about the foundation, all the great and impactful work you’re doing?
Katie: Yes. So it’s a very short script. It basically says, “Do you want to support your local scholars?” So in terms of what they’re saying to you, it’s a very short script. But there is some signage in the restaurants that talks about what the scholarships are and gives our website if you want to get more information about it.
John: As you said, back in your days at the United Way, you were very used to doing things in person and not afraid, of course. Talk a little bit about innovation that’s happened, though, now in the fundraising world, both innovation using technology, innovation using just new ideas and strategies, and also collaborations and partnerships. How do you juggle all that with still the needs that you have at the foundation to raise capital and disperse it appropriately?
Katie: To be honest with you, John, this whole app, kiosk environment, it was very new for me. Like I said, I was just used to meeting with donors and saying, “Hey, do you want to give? Here’s all the information about it.” And it was a yes or a no. So all these like different approaches are very new, but we lean on our BK corporate teams a lot to walk us through what does this looks like, what are brands doing, how can we utilize this tool? And they’re really great. And then, believe it or not, our franchisees, they’re in the restaurants. And so they’ll come to us and say, “Oh well, have you thought of this?” You know, there’s televisions in the restaurants or most restaurants, can we put it up on there? Or we also talk to our employees about giving can we put something back of house? So there’s always all these ideas flowing, and we look into them all and try and utilize as many tools as we possibly can to do that.
John: How about when it comes to other partnerships or collaborations with your vendors or other partners that just are logical and strategic?
Katie: Usually with vendors and with franchisees, they actually do want the FaceTime. You know, they want to be with leadership and things like that. And so with them, we really try and like make things specialized and so make the experience specialized. So it’s a little bit of a different avenue there.
John: How much does the economy and politics affect you? What keeps you up at night, Katie, in terms of if the economy or the stock market’s going down, are you worried then? Are you going to be able to hit your numbers? What are the challenges that really worry you the most, and how do you attack those challenges and climb those mountains?
Katie: For me, if we’re not selling burgers, then everything else is non-existent. And so, yeah, I want the franchisees to be doing well because my function is to help them show their support in their communities. And so I wouldn’t say anything keeps me up at night, but I know if we’re not selling burgers, we’ve got a problem.
John: You took the job almost like you just said you hit your three year anniversary just recently, so you’ve been there three years. What were you expecting that didn’t happen? And what are some of the lessons that you learned that were totally out of the blue? New things for you, new challenges for you that you’re, and lessons that you have to learn on the job.
Katie: When I was interviewing, I heard from folks that the foundation had gotten a little stale. There was a lag in executive directors in between me and the last person. I think it was like a year gap. And so, franchisees had checked. And so I think I said, “I think you just need to remind people that the foundation is around.” And that was actually true. You know, they just needed to be reminded that we were here, we were happy to work, and honor their commitments to their communities. And so that was actually pretty simple and easy. You know we have a board. I report into our BK CEO, but we also have a board. I wasn’t expecting the board to be so passionate about the foundation. Like I said that they’re selling burgers, but they really care about the foundation. They’ve gone above and beyond to be ambassadors for us. And so, I wasn’t expecting that. But it was a good surprise.
John: The scholarships and community initiatives that you create at the Burger King Foundation create very impactful, lasting results. How do you keep it fresh, though? You know, whereas when you were stepping into these shoes, people were whispering to you that things got a little stale, and that’s why they needed a new leader like you. How do you maintain that freshness and keep, keep things from getting ever stale again?
Katie: This year, we’re doing a couple of new scholarships. We’re doing some hometown scholarships, which we’ve never done in the past. And we’re doing a new $20,000 scholarship specifically for our employees through the Macklemore family, which is actually still involved with the foundation. Jim, like I said, passed away ago, but the Macklemore family remains involved. And so, that’s how we’re keeping it fresh this year. I think the other thing is to always check in with the program. You know, I’m always asking, can we up the amount? Should we be renewing scholarships? What does that look like? And so to always check in and make sure we’re doing the right thing for our communities and our scholars.
John: How many people work with you there? How many people are on your team?
Katie: We have a small, intimate team. There’s six of us.
John: Do you travel a lot? Do you have to travel and go meet franchise groups or franchisees or other leaders across the United States or beyond our borders?
Katie: I would say I probably travelled the most out of my team. And yes, I’m always meeting with franchisees. We have a ton of internal franchisee meetings and things like that. So I always try and just to like I said, the FaceTime, the sharing of impact, that’s all very important to keep it on their mind.
John: You also track all your alumni?
Katie: That’s something new that we weren’t doing when I walked through the door, funny enough. And it was something that I knew was very important from my days at the university. And so, yes, we have started to. We’ve always tracked them. We’ve started to communicate with them more. We’ve invited them back into the restaurants. “Hey, come meet in the restaurants. Come meet the new class of scholars.” We ask them to come speak at the different events. So we’ve begun communicating more.
John: That’s great. I’m sure that’s very inspirational, both for the franchisees, and it continues to inspire them to do more of the great work that you’re doing, and also for your new scholars. It really inspires them that if this man or woman did that, I could do the same; I could follow their footsteps.
Katie: Absolutely.
John: Talk a little bit about, you said the foundation itself is about 20 years old now?
Katie: Yes, we turned 20 this year.
John: When you sit down with leadership, you report into the CEO, what’s the next 20 look like? When you have the whiteboard there with the C and the CEO’s telling you his vision and/or her vision, and you’re thinking about everything that you’ve learned now, what’s the next 20 look like?
Katie: You know, I’m a fundraiser at heart, so I immediately go to the dollars. I always say let’s raise more and more. So my mind always goes there. And then the other piece to me is the impact. Through scholars, we’ve been able to reach 50,000 students. Through our new initiative, Crown A Classroom, just this year alone, we were able to reach 100,000 students. So, really trying to impact more students through education is really top of mind for me. So I’d say those are the two things.
John: Do you publish an annual report at the Burger King Foundation?
Katie: Yeah, they can be found on our website.
John: So it lives in perpetuity on your website?
Katie: Yes.
John: What month does it come out every year? What quarter does it come out every year, approximately?
Katie: Usually around March is my deadline for the annual report, usually.
John: Katie, you’re part of a very cool fraternity of not only impact executives across America but also in the fundraising field, which is a very big business, as we know. Where do you look for your inspiration yourself? Do you look inside of your industry in terms of other fast food chains like Burger King that are massively successful, or do you look outside of that, or where do you draw your best inspiration?
Katie: I’d say both. We’re always doing competitor analysis, so that just comes along with the job. But coming from a place like United Way, when I came in and remember they told me the foundation had gotten stale, I basically took the basics of what we did at United Way with engaging donors, and I did it here. And it literally was the basics. And so I’d like to say that I take from everywhere, and if I’m looking for something specific that I know, “Hey, they do it really well over there. Let me take a look.”
John: That’s interesting. Any final words or thoughts that you have on what you do? Is the world becoming harder to be in the fundraising philanthropy business, or is it easier given that access is easier, communication’s easier? How would you weigh this part of your career versus your other part of your career at United Way? Has things gotten easier or more difficult?
Katie: I’d like to say it got easier. And I say that because I remember being at United Way during COVID, and I remember all of us saying, “Oh, my gosh, this is gonna rock our world.” And it was the opposite. People came to us and said, “We want to give more. We know there’s so much going on.” And I think the same goes for a lot of the franchisees here at Burger King. They know that the world is tough out there right now and that the community more support than ever. And they’re doing business in these communities, and they care about their communities. And so we find that they’re being more generous. And so I would say I guess, if easier is the word. So I definitely see more generosity.
John: What advice do you have for the next generation, Katie, that wants to be like you? They want to not only make a paycheck and pay the bills that we all have to pay, but they also want to make an impact because you get that you’re in that very sweet spot of working at an iconic brand, making a paycheck and being able to take care of yourself and your family, but also you make a huge impact on this world. How should they go about following?
Katie: It’s so weird to think of myself in that space, but thank you so much. Honestly, what worked for me, and I only speak for myself, obviously, what worked for me is that when I had that first position at the cancer center and I was working and going to school full time, and it was a lot, but any extra thing that they would give me, I would take it because of the experience. And I was able to just do like as much as they would give me. I pretty much did most of the things you can do in a fundraising office. I went from check processing, like I said, to doing events, to doing annual giving, to doing major gifts, I went all across. And so I would say that [inaudible].
John: One part of your vocabulary, you are always of service. When they asked you, you raised your hand, and you were ready. That’s great advice. [inaudible].
Katie: Just say yes and get that experience under your belt because that is invaluable and you can take that with you anywhere.
John: I love it. Katie, we’re so lucky you said yes to coming on the Impact Podcast. You’re always welcome back here. Katie Lewis, she’s the executive director of the Burger King Foundation. To find her and her wonderful colleague colleagues at Burger King that are doing all this great work in the foundation, please go to www.burgerkingfoundation.org. Katie Lewis, thank you not only for your time today, but more important, thank you for making the world just a better place.
Katie: Thank you, John. I appreciate it.
John: This edition of the Impact Podcast is brought to you by Engage. Engage is a digital booking platform revolutionizing the talent booking industry. With thousands of athletes, celebrities, entrepreneurs, and business leaders, Engage is the go-to spot for booking talent for speeches, custom experiences, live streams, and much more. For more information on Engage or to book talent today, visit letsengage.com. This edition of the Impact Podcast is brought to you by ERI. ERI has a mission to protect people. The planet and your privacy and is the largest fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity focused hardware destruction company in the United States and maybe even the world. For more information on how ERI can help your business properly dispose of outdated electronic hardware devices, please visit eridirect.com.