Cathy Tang
VP, Associate General Counsel at Yum! Brands
Cathy Tang currently serves as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for YUM Brands, Inc. (parent company of the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands) in Plano, Texas. In this role, Cathy leads the YUM Global Brand Protection function, which includes strategic management of YUM’s global trademark portfolio, licensing/IP transactions, marketing/advertising legal best practices and social media/domain name matters. Prior to re-joining the YUM Law Department, Cathy was the Chief New Business Development Officer for KFC Global. She led initiatives to accelerate KFC’s unit growth around the world, with particular focus on driving strategic partnerships to generate access, capital and other resources to enable aggressive expansion outside the U.S.
From 2009 to 2015, Cathy was the Chief Legal Officer of KFC U.S., serving as a valued member of KFC’s senior leadership team and partnering closely with KFC’s GM/President. She provided strategic advice on a broad range of matters impacting the KFC business, including franchise relations, labor and employment issues, marketing and advertising initiatives and innovation. In 2015, Cathy was part of the team (including the President and CFO of KFC U.S.) that led and concluded a landmark agreement between the company and its franchisee system that has been critical to the ongoing turnaround of the KFC U.S. system.
Prior to becoming the CLO for KFC, Cathy served in a number of legal leadership roles across the YUM! Brands organization, including Managing Director, YUM Global Trademarks/IP and Senior Counsel with Pizza Hut, Inc. in Dallas, Texas, advising on a broad range of legal issues, including marketing and advertising, information technology and franchising matters.From 1998-2002, Cathy was a senior attorney with Dell, Inc. in Round Rock, Texas, providing strategic support to Dell’s Consumer and Global business segments, including leading new business development initiatives and significant e-commerce, global sales and marketing deals. Cathy’s initial in-house experience was with PepsiCo, Inc., as counsel with KFC in Louisville, then moving into positions of increasing responsibility with assignments in London (PepsiCo Restaurants International) and Dallas (Pizza Hut). She began her legal career as a litigation associate with the law firm of Stites and Harbison in Louisville.
Cathy received her B.A. degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and her J.D. from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.
Cathy is committed to volunteer work that makes a difference for others in her company, her community and the foodservice industry. She has served on the Board of Directors for several non-profit organizations in Dallas and served on the Board of the Women’s Foodservice Forum for many years. She was also a Trustee of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy in Louisville, Kentucky.Cathy isparticularly passionate about mentoring the next generation of leaders in business and the community and often presents on the topics of authentic leadership, career development, inclusion and work life success. She was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni of the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville in 2014.
Cathy grew up in Dallas, Texas, and is an avid sports fan (Go Cowboys!). She enjoys cooking, traveling, golf, and most of all spending time with her family.