Cheryl Babcock

CFE, Director of the International Institute for Franchise Education

Cheryl R. Babcock, CFE, is the founding director of the International Institute for Franchise Education in the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University and the executive director of the International Society of Franchising. She designs and develops executive education programs to help franchise leaders develop and enhance their capacity to take on 21st century franchise challenges and expand their knowledge and awareness of best practices in ethical franchising. Additionally, she has developed and taught courses on franchising and entrepreneurship in Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

Cheryl serves on the International Franchise Association (IFA) Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, Institute for Certified Franchise Executives Board of Governors, IFA Membership Committee and was vice-chair of the IFA Economic Impact Study. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Women in Franchise and Distribution Forum (WFDF); the Franchise Advisory Boards of GP Sports Centers, Inc., and the Sustainable Healthcare Enterprise Foundation; and served for three years on the Board of Directors of RE/MAX of Georgia, Kentucky/Tennessee, and southern Ohio. She is co-author, with Julie Bennett, of Franchise Times Guide to Selecting, Buying & Owning a Franchise that will be published in January 2008, has authored numerous trade publication articles and book chapters, and edited a book on franchising.

She received the Edwin M. Appel Prize from the Price-Babson College Fellows Program for "bringing entrepreneurial vitality to academe" and was named by Franchise Times as one of “20 to Watch” in both 2001 and 2004. The IFA honored her in 2003 with their prestigious Free Enterprise Award, honoring her work in strengthening and fostering the development of the free enterprise system; and also in 2000 for the franchise research and education initiatives of the Institute for Franchise Management that she founded and directed.