How McDonald's franchises identify and cultivate top talent

Forbes

6 days ago

They come from very different backgrounds: Abdul Mowla was a high school student athlete in Brooklyn, New York, who'd planned to become an engineer. Nicolas Montealegre grew up in Colombia before moving to New Jersey when he was 17. And at 15, Quontisha Chisholm was a single mom in Delaware working to support her infant son.
But they share two things in common: Each got their start working as a teenage crew member at their local McDonald's franchise, and each furthered their education — while continuing to work full time — through the McDonald's Archways to Opportunity program. Since 2015, Archways' benefits have empowered more than 92,000 employees of participating franchisees and company-owned restaurants to enroll in education programs to advance their knowledge and skills and earn a paycheck at the same time.
For the individuals profiled below — the last in our 10-year anniversary series about Archways to Opportunity — that experience was a game-changer: Mowla is on his way to becoming a McDonald's lifer, Montealegre is now on a management fast track, and Chisholm is pursuing her lifelong love of medicine and children.
There's a clear message here for executives looking to prime their talent pumps: The secret to developing a competitive workforce is to recruit employees based on their innate gifts, interests, and eagerness to learn, rather than prioritizing their credentials. Next, it's about giving these people the tools to succeed.
In other words, treat your talent strategy like a search for hidden gems. To find and cultivate undiscovered treasures, sometimes it helps to go off the beaten path.
As a new McDonald's franchise crew member from Colombia, Nicolas Montealegre was identified as a potential fast-tracker. Archways to Opportunity gave him the English skills to get there.
Shortly after hiring Nicolas Montealegre as a crew member at a McDonald's franchise restaurant in Manville, New Jersey, his supervisors knew he was special.
Montealegre was just 17 when he moved to America from Colombia with his mother in 2016. A few months later, after turning 18, he started working at the McDonald's Manville franchise location, initially in maintenance.
'When I met Nico, the first thing he did was ask me, in very broken English, about the kitchen department,' said Jack Scari, the franchise's owner. 'And I thought, 'Wow, he's asking about something that isn't falling into his job scope right now.''
Scari later mentioned the exchange to the area supervisor, who replied, 'He is a sponge. All he wants to do is learn, and he is obsessed with this business.'
That's all Scari needed to hear before putting Montealegre on a fast track. 'If you want to learn and you work hard, there's definitely a spot for you in McDonald's,' Scari said.
So, he asked the team, 'What does Nico need to be able to handle more responsibility within the company?'
The answer? English as a second language classes to help Montealegre communicate better with staff and customers. He started with eight weeks of 'English Under the Arches,' an Archways to Opportunity program, and then used tuition assistance to continue studying English at nearby Raritan Valley Community College.
Montealegre quickly became fluent enough to begin studies in computer science, while continuing to work full time and support his family, which now includes a wife and baby. He plans on earning his bachelor's degree from Colorado Technical University in late 2026.
Thanks to his growing proficiency in English and strong work ethic, Montealegre has more than lived up to his bosses' high expectations of him. For the past nine years, he has applied his business instincts and creativity to help the franchise grow as he grew: The Scari Organization now comprises 18 restaurants, up from just two when Montealegre joined. 'A lot of the growth we've had, he's played a huge role in,' Scari said.
As a result, Montealegre recently took on a big new role as people experience lead — basically, director of human resources — for all 18 locations. 'I'm able to communicate with my coworkers, to teach, to learn, to speak freely,' Montealegre said. 'ESL changed my life here in the U.S., to be honest.'
Having advanced so far at a young age, where does he go from here? Montealegre says he'd love to be director of operations one day — a position Scari says is definitely within his reach.
'He's a self-starter and an out-of-the-box thinker,' Scari said. 'I sent him to an event in Pennsylvania for a rally, and he came back with a whole new way of doing employee reviews and a whole new way of doing onboarding.'
For now, Montealegre is focused on how to get the most out of the franchise organization's fast-growing team.
'I want to give back by making sure all the hires who are showing potential are getting the same tools and opportunities I did,' he said. 'I want to make sure we develop all those future leaders.'
Quontisha Chisholm hopes her personal turnaround story will help others who think their life is lost. 'You're not in a race with anybody,' she said. 'You finish when you finish.'
As a single teenage mom, raised by a great aunt who couldn't afford to support another child, Quontisha Chisholm had to quit school at 15 to care for her infant son. During her first job, as a waitress, she carried him to work in a car seat on the bus. The future looked bleak.
'I didn't have a high school diploma. My parents were out on the streets, so I didn't have them to guide me. And I had a baby,' she said. 'So, where do you go from there?'
Where Chisholm went was a McDonald's restaurant in Millsboro, Delaware, because it was hiring. Although she didn't know it at the time, it was the first step in a journey that would change her life.
By then 18 years old and newly married, Chisholm started as an opener, getting the store ready for business and then handling drive-thru orders and other tasks from 4 a.m. until noon. It was a job she kept for the next half-dozen years, during which time she had two more children, until unexpected life events forced Chisholm and her family to move away from Millsboro.
For the next several years, Chisholm worked at a series of jobs at other companies before returning to a McDonald's restaurant (this one in Milford, Delaware) in 2019 as an opening manager. By then, her McDonald's franchise was encouraging employees to take advantage of Archways to Opportunity. Seeing this as a chance to pursue her lifelong passions, Chisholm applied.
In 2020, she started a self-paced, fully accredited online high school program, Career Online High School, and chose a career pathway in child care for early learning. That diploma and certificate set Chisholm up for a new profession — she got a job as an assistant early education teacher — that she'd long dreamed of.
It was also a way for her to honor her second son, Ryrico Jr., who passed away in 2012. 'He didn't get to graduate and receive his high school diploma,' Chisholm said. 'So, I got it for him.'
In addition to kickstarting her career working with children, the completion of high school made Chisholm eligible for a workforce development grant from Delaware Tech Community College. There, she began pursuing her passion for medicine, earning her clinically certified medical administrative assistant license. That means she can do both administrative and clinical work, like monitoring vital signs and drawing blood.
Chisholm is deeply grateful for the support Archways to Opportunity provided when she needed it most. Having worked for the last three years at a satellite location of Nemours Children's Health in Milford, Chisholm is experiencing personal and professional fulfillment beyond what her younger self ever expected. 'I look at my son every day and I think, 'You were like my little brother, having to drag you everywhere. And now look at us.' We have a big house, and I'm married and happy. We're not struggling.'
This outcome has shown Chisholm's kids that with hard work and determination, anything is possible. Her son, now 20, is studying to be a nurse, while her daughter, 15, wants to be a cosmetologist. 'My son came to me and said, 'Mom, you're my best friend. You're my inspiration.' And just hearing those words, and where he plans to go in life, is everything.'
Next up for Chisholm: becoming a paramedic. 'I used to watch emergency medicine shows and think, 'I'm going to be in surgery one day,' Chisholm said. 'When you're a little girl, you dream.'
Thanks to Archways to Opportunity, her dreams are coming true. 'I was able to change my life and change my children's life because of McDonald's,' Chisholm said. 'I'm not where I want to be, but I will get there. My time is coming.'
Thanks to Archways to Opportunity, Abdul Mowla studied business and human resource management and became a McDonald's franchisee. But, he said, 'You don't have to do it the way I did it.'
As a high school senior in Brooklyn, New York, Abdul Mowla started working as a crew member at a local McDonald's restaurant within walking distance of his home. At the time, he was a student athlete and self-described 'academic nerd' planning to go to college for engineering.
The twist: Some 26 years later, Mowla is still with McDonald's. Only now, instead of working for a franchisee, he is one, with three restaurants in Rochester, New York. His unexpected personal trajectory included a fulfilling educational journey made possible by Archways to Opportunity, allowing him to continue to work and move up the ranks.
But Mowla emphasizes that there are many pathways to success. As an example, he points to the facilities manager he hired, who is now using Archways to Opportunity to attend school for HVAC so he can better connect with the technicians he manages. 'The Archways program is so flexible, you have an opportunity to pursue your passion,' Mowla said. 'That's the message.'
Though he completed a year of computer engineering studies after high school, it soon became clear Mowla's passion was the McDonald's franchise business — all aspects of it — so he took a break from school. 'At each level of McDonald's, you learn a different skill set,' Mowla said. 'I got to develop a team and lead a team, and we could work together to get results. I loved that.'
At 19, he became the general manager at Brooklyn's 20th Avenue store where he'd started, which was owned by Paul Hendel — 'the best owner-operator this side of Heaven,' Mowla called him. That's also where Mowla met a coworker, Jaira, who later became his wife. In September, they'll have been married for 20 years.
After a series of promotions, Mowla took over as director of operations for Hendel's entire enterprise, Hendel Products Group, in 2013. The company owned 17 locations at the time; over the next 10 years, that number grew to 33. Career-wise, Mowla was thriving.
Then, one night over dinner, he listened to his mother, a computer hobbyist who'd gone back to school to study computer information systems, and his daughter Aisha, who was in seventh grade, discuss their classes. It got Mowla thinking. 'I had both generations in school, both having fun,' he said. 'And I thought, 'I really should try to go back to school to help me in my current role.''
Despite Mowla's busy work schedule, Archways to Opportunity made that possible through its partnership with Colorado Technical University, which offered online learning, short sessions, and flexible scheduling. There, he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in human resource management (and later an MBA) because 'even though my job is operationally driven, the foundation is people.'
Today, having gone through the McDonald's owner-operator program — with Hendel's enthusiastic support — and buying three restaurants, Mowla is 'living the dream.' At age 42, he's already achieved so much, it begs the question: What's next?
'My ultimate dream goal would be to find the next Abdul,' Mowla said. 'Somebody who has the passion and work ethic and says, 'I want to be an owner-operator.' And hopefully that person gets a lot of experience with me, and I can support them the way I've been supported through the system. If I can do that in my career going forward, then it's a full-circle moment.'
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