Helen Mackey is Senior Vice President of Marketing for Darden Restaurants’ Specialty Restaurant Group, which includes two fine dining brands – The Capital Grille and Eddie V’s – as well as Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Yard House. In this role, Helen oversees all brand marketing and sales efforts for these brands, which have more than 250 locations and annual sales of nearly $1.5 billion.
Previously, Helen served as Vice President, Enterprise Beverage Strategy & Innovation where she was responsible for leveraging Darden’s scale through strategic category management of Beverages including innovation, supplier management and operational brand support.
Prior to joining Darden in 2016, Helen served in various beverage and menu leadership roles at Ruth’s Hospitality Group. She led the team responsible for development and execution of the beverage and culinary strategy for Ruth’s that drove increased traffic and market share. Prior to Ruth’s, Helen worked at Diageo for over seven years in various sales and marketing roles. Before that, she was a Producer with Fox News Corp.
Helen holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and an MBA from Rollins College. Helen has received many industry awards and recognition including Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Director of the Year and VIBE VISTA awards for Best Overall Wine Program and Best Overall Spirits Program. She holds a diploma in Wine & Spirit Education Trust and owned three WSET schools early in her career.