Preeminent Operations Executive Joins Senior Leadership Team To Guide Global Growth Stategy

Boca Raton, FL (December 17, 2015) – The Learning Experience®, one of the nation’s fastest growing Academies of Early Education for children six weeks to six years old, announced today the appointment of recognized business enterprise leader Andrew Alfano as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Alfano will lead the execution of operational strategies globally, guide tactical imperatives including the organization’s growth, planned expansions, and enhance marketing and brand initiatives.

Most recently, Alfano served as Senior Vice President, U.S. Business for Starbucks® Coffee Company, where he directed P&L responsibilities in excess of $3 Billion and played a key role in enabling transformative and ubiquitous growth. Alfano was a pivotal leader that helped architect the company’s strategic growth, specifically in some of the country’s more high profile complex markets, including Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., as well as the company’s flagship market of New York.

“We’ve selected a very strong leader at a time when our company is in a very strong position,” said Richard Weissman, The Learning Experience’s Chairman and CEO. “Today’s pace of change is exponential, and every company is navigating disruptive markets while continuing to maintain guiding core principles and recognizing transformation has never been more important. Andrew Alfano is a change agent, unique in his ability to translate vision and strategy into world-class execution.”

Alfano is an executive leader with over 25 years experience in the retail, hospitality and restaurant industries. He sits on the Board of Directors for the United Way of New York City as well as the Society of Fellows of The Culinary Institute of America, from which his is a graduate.

“I am highly pleased to join another company that sets the category bar for their sector. The Learning Experience is a dynamic and innovative enterprise that is rooted in the advancement of our most precious commodity: the educational development of children,” said Alfano. “The leadership team, led by Richard Weissman and the staff across the country, is committed to maintaining our prominence and the ability to lead this next chapter is deeply humbling and incredibly exhilarating. I am focused on accelerating the innovation and execution that our customers and franchisees need from us.”

Alfano maintains a dual residency on both Long Island and West Palm Beach, with his wife, Sandy, and three children. He enjoys spending his spare time with his family, traveling, dining and is active in many recreational sports.

About The Learning Experience®

The Learning Experience® is one of the nation’s fastest growing, franchised academies of early education for children ages six weeks to six years old. The company’s proven curriculum has resulted in 95% of its pre-school graduates reading before kindergarten and contributed to positive same-center comparable growth for six of the last seven years. There are more than 150 The Learning Experience centers open and operating in the U.S., with another 70 under development. Approximately 70 percent of these are independently owned and operated by local business men and women. For more information, please visit www.thelearningexperience.com.

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