Spencer Rubin
Chief Executive Officer
Spencer Rubin has spent 25 years in the restaurant industry building and scaling hospitality businesses, developing deep expertise in real estate development, operations, and executive leadership. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, specializing in multi-unit restaurant development and entrepreneurship.
Over the course of his career, Spencer has developed, opened, or operated well over 100 restaurants for national restaurant brands. In 2011, he co-founded Melt Shop and served as its CEO for 13 years, growing it into a recognized fast-casual concept. At just 26, his work building and operating Melt Shop earned him both Forbes 30 Under 30 and Zagat 30 Under 30 honors. Today, he leads Eastwing, a Wingstop franchisee operating 35 locations across New York and New England, with more than 20 additional restaurants in active development, and a target of achieving 100 operating locations by 2030.
Peter De Angelo
Chief Financial Officer
Peter De Angelo is an entrepreneurial financial and operating executive who strengthens and scales businesses by pairing deep financial, operational, and analytical expertise with practical leadership. He has repeatedly been brought in to refocus underperforming or under-optimized companies, recapitalize businesses, professionalize infrastructure, lead and integrate M&A activities, and build cultures that deliver growth in profitability and enterprise value across B2B and B2C markets.
Peter was introduced to the franchise-based Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) business in 2018 as CFO of what grew to become a 95-unit Taco Bell YUM! Brands franchisee. He oversaw a $165 million P&L, delivered three consecutive years of double-digit EBITDA growth (16.6%, 14.7%, and 17.4%), recapitalized $124 million of capital structure, led all back-office functions, and helped generate a $120 million three-year increase in shareholder value while reinvigorating and refocusing new store development and remodel programs. The franchisee successfully exited, completing its sale in 2023. From that experience, Peter has served QSR franchisees, including Wingstop franchisees, and small franchisors as the senior executive in finance and operations with many similar successes.
Peter holds an M.A. in International Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus and a B.S. in Finance from Villanova University. He is known for simplifying complex operating and financial issues, building high-performing teams, and turning strategy into measurable results.
Avanka Kannangara
Senior Vice President of Operations
Avanka "AK" Kannangara is SVP of Operations at Eastwing, overseeing the rapidly growing Wingstop franchisee with more than 35 locations across New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. In this role, AK leads operational excellence, market expansion, and new territory growth as Eastwing scales toward 150 locations.
AK brings more than 20 years of multi-unit restaurant operations experience. Before joining Eastwing in 2024, he served on the leadership team at Convive Brands as Senior Director of Operations and spent more than a decade at Little Beet, where he progressed from District Manager to Director of Operations. Earlier in his career, AK held General Manager and District Manager roles with Aurify Brands, Key Products, and QSR Management. Throughout his career, he has built a strong track record of developing high-performing hospitality teams and driving operational results across every level of restaurant leadership.
Originally from Sri Lanka, AK is based in Staten Island, NY, where he lives with his wife, their two daughters, and their dog. Outside of work, he enjoys playing cricket, a longtime passion that reflects his appreciation for teamwork, discipline, and performance.
Ilana Scher
Vice President of Development
Ilana is a real estate and development professional with over 20 years in the hospitality industry. She has spent the majority of her career leading ambitious projects for rapid-growth startups (WeWork, Wonder). With a background spanning culinary arts, food systems, construction, development, and programming, she has opened 100+ restaurants over the course of her career and worked across nearly every facet of the industry. Her current focus is real estate and restaurant development, with a keen eye toward systems and scalability. She is based in NYC.
Eric Bayer
Vice President of Operational Excellence
Eric is an accomplished franchise operations leader with extensive experience driving business performance, operational excellence, and sustainable growth across complex, multi-unit organizations.
During his time with Wingstop, Eric served as a Franchise Business Consultant overseeing a portfolio of 150+ franchised restaurants and upwards of 21 Brand Partners. He partnered closely with Brand Partners and above-restaurant leaders to grow sales, elevate the guest experience, improve operational performance, and strengthen compliance with brand standards. His portfolio ranked first in Wingstop's North Region throughout 2023, reflecting strong results across same-store sales and key operational metrics.
Eric's influence extended beyond his assigned portfolio through partnerships with Marketing, Business Intelligence, Brand Standards, Human Resources, Delivery, and Learning and Development.
His contributions included supporting the automation of the Quarterly Business Review process, participating in the QSC task force, serving as a subject-matter expert for YourWingstop, supporting new restaurant openings, and helping expand delivery partnerships with Grubhub and ezCater. He also led the rollout of Grubhub across the New York and Chicago markets.
Eric was trusted to support underperforming markets, onboard seven new ownership groups, train new Franchise Business Consultants, and develop programs that strengthened leadership capabilities and restaurant-level execution.
Before joining Wingstop, Eric served as a Franchise Consultant with Rita's Franchise Company, managing 53 franchised locations across the Mid-Atlantic region and supporting nine new restaurant openings. Earlier in his career, he managed a $3.8 million retail business for PANDORA, where he delivered 27% year-over-year revenue growth and developed multiple team members into successful leadership roles.
Eric earned a bachelor's degree with a concentration in Marketing from Philadelphia University. Throughout his career, he has been recognized for combining data-driven insight, practical operational leadership, and strong relationship-building skills to develop people and deliver measurable business results.
Jacki Baldwin
Senior Director of Human Resources
Jacki Baldwin is a senior human resources executive with more than 25 years of progressive leadership experience across large, complex, multi-state organizations. Her background includes serving as Vice President of Human Resources for a 3,000-employee manufacturing organization, as well as leadership experience with Comcast, AT&T, and a 90-restaurant Yum! Brands franchise organization. Throughout her career, Jacki has focused on building strong leadership teams, developing talent and succession pipelines, modernizing HR systems and processes, and creating scalable people strategies that support organizational growth and performance. She holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification.
Since joining Eastwing in July 2026, Jacki has been focused on building the human resources infrastructure needed to support the company's rapid expansion. Her work includes strengthening recruiting and onboarding, leadership development and succession planning, organizational structure, employee relations and compliance, and evaluating Eastwing's HR and workforce technology platforms to determine which systems will best support the business long term and how they should integrate as the organization scales. As a member of the senior leadership team, she partners closely with executive and operations leadership to ensure Eastwing has the talent, leadership capability, systems, and people infrastructure necessary to support continued growth.
Max Risch
Chief of Staff
Max Risch is a hospitality and operations leader currently serving as Chief of Staff at Eastwing. He recently graduated with an M.B.A. from Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, where he excelled academically and served as President of the Gabelli Pour, the graduate school's wine club. Before returning to school, Max built a multi-year career at Hillstone Restaurant Group, taking on progressively more senior management roles. At Hillstone, Max drove operational excellence, managed large teams, and oversaw full restaurant operations, including staffing, training, inventory, and cost management. His experience includes bar management, workforce development, and cross-functional coordination between front- and back-of-house operations.
Last summer, Max returned home to Napa Valley and completed an internship at Treasury Wine Estates supporting corporate finance, sales, and hospitality initiatives. Max also has a B.A. from UCLA and early experience working for Gracie Films and The Simpsons as a production assistant. Max offers a versatile blend of people leadership, financial acumen, and operational rigor.
