Carmen Jimenez, 36, general manager of the McDonald’s restaurant at 797 First St. in Gilroy, will receive the prestigious Ray Kroc Award, named after the fast food chain founder in 1999 to honor high performing restaurant managers from across the globe.
Jimenez, who worked harvesting strawberries before starting her career at McDonald’s in 2001, was one of 340 managers chosen this year to receive the award. They will be recognized for their “superior performance and achievement” at a ceremony April 13 at McDonald’s 2016 Worldwide Convention in Orlando, Florida.
Recipients are nominated by McDonald’s franchisees and regional management, then a committee makes the final selection after finalists are interviewed.
There are approximately 36,000 McDonald’s restaurants worldwide, with 1.7 million employees.
“I feel so proud to receive this award,” said Jimenez, her co-workers smiling as she poses in front of a congratulatory display at the First Street restaurant.
A single mom to 16-year-old Erasto, Jimenez worked her way up the ranks at McDonald’s. She started in maintenance owing to her limited English skills at the time. Then she was a crew member in production, and later a full-fledged member of the service team.
Jimenez became a restaurant manager in 2007 after attending Hamburger University, McDonald’s global training center for management and owner/operators. Since then she has received multiple awards from the McDonald’s corporation for outstanding performance.
Calling her McDonald’s restaurant a “family,” Jimenez said she was glad to be given the opportunity to grow professionally alongside Gilroy McDonald’s franchise owner/operators Steve and Jan Peat.
Jimenez’s community service also made her stand out to the award selection committee. Through her position at McDonald’s, she has organized fundraising events for local schools called “McTeacher Nights,” where middle and high school teachers work behind the service counter for a couple hours and in return the school receives a portion of the sales.
She has also volunteered at the Gilroy Garlic Festival and acted as brand ambassador, speaking to local high school and college students about McDonald’s career opportunities.
“We have a lot of support from the community,” Jimenez said.
