Justin Sikora
Senior Vice President, Communications, Darden Restaurants
Justin Sikora oversees all corporate and brand communications for Darden Restaurants, including public relations, internal communications, social media and digital marketing, which includes CRM, search, email marketing and digital properties. The Communications team’s reputation-building and marketing public relations strategy is focused on media relations, third-party relationship development, and the strategic positioning of Darden executives and internal subject matter experts. In addition, the team is responsible for issues management and crisis communications for Darden and its restaurant brands.
Darden owns and operates more than 1,700 Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s restaurants in North America, employing 185,000 people and serving nearly 400 million guests annually.
Prior to joining Darden, Justin served as Vice President at Edelman Worldwide, the world’s largest independent public relations firm. While there, he was responsible for overseeing the planning and execution of numerous national traditional, digital and social media campaigns for clients such as Time Warner (DC Entertainment) and Unilever’s AXE and Dove brands.
Justin earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Communications from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.