Louisville, Kentucky, United States, September 2025 – Kahler Rivers has been appointed as Director, People & Culture at KFC US. In this role, she will be responsible for strengthening people and culture strategies across the organization, supporting talent development, and enhancing employee engagement for one of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands.
Kahler joins KFC US after more than three years with Peloton Interactive, where she most recently served as Director, People Business Partnership. In this role, she guided strategic HR initiatives, talent management, and leadership alignment, following her earlier position as Senior People Business Partner. Her contributions helped drive employee success and organizational effectiveness in a dynamic, high-growth environment.
Prior to Peloton, Kahler spent eight years at Starbucks, where she served as a Partner Resources Manager (Regional Field HR Manager). During this tenure, she played a pivotal role in supporting field operations, driving partner engagement, and advancing HR strategies across multiple regions.
Earlier, she worked at Bass Pro Shops as a Regional Field HR Manager, leading field HR support and employee relations. Before that, she spent nearly three years at JCPenney as a Senior HR Business Partner – Stores HR and HR Business Partner, Associate Relations, where she supported talent, associate relations, and HR operations across the retail network.
Kahler began her HR career at Carlson Restaurants / T.G.I. Friday’s, where she held multiple roles over more than four years, including HR Manager – Corporate Recruiting/Employee Relations, Diversity Manager, and Recruiting Specialist. These experiences provided her with a strong foundation in employee relations, recruiting, and diversity leadership.
About KFC US
KFC Corporation, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world’s most popular chicken restaurant chain and a division of Yum! Brands, the world’s largest restaurant company. With a rich 60-year history of success and innovation, KFC operates thousands of restaurants across the US and worldwide. Yum! Brands, with nearly 43,000 restaurants in over 130 countries and territories, includes leading brands such as KFC®, Pizza Hut®, and Taco Bell®, and is ranked on the FORTUNE 500 list with revenues exceeding $13 billion.
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