In 2005, he was named a Georgia Rising Star in Atlanta magazine and Georgia Super Lawyers – Rising Stars Edition. Okeson is a past member of the Advisory Board of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

He was listed in Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, and Georgia Super Lawyers.

While at Alston & Bird, Okeson co-chaired the firm’s securities and corporate governance practice quality teams. Previously, Okeson was a partner at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, Georgia, where he spent 15 years specializing in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, and corporate finance. Following Roark Capital Group’s acquisition of Arby’s in 2011, Okeson remained with Arby’s as General Counsel while assuming additional senior management responsibilities. At Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Okeson served as General Counsel of the parent company and each of the Arby’s and Wendy’s operating companies. In these roles, he helped lead the organization through a number of significant M&A and financing transactions as Triarc evolved into a pure play restaurant company eventually combining with Wendy’s International, Inc. Okeson joined Arby’s as General Counsel in 2005 and became General Counsel of Arby’s former parent corporation, Triarc Companies in 2007. Prior to Inspire, Okeson was General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. Okeson oversees the legal, corporate secretary, risk management, lease management, and administrative services functions for Inspire and its brands. Okeson serves as General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of Inspire Brands, a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 32,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC Drive-In restaurants worldwide. Our eight legendary brands feature widespread consumer awareness and affinity, driven by our extended brand recognition and ingenious technology. Our portfolio of complementary, highly valued concepts provides the opportunity to cross-invest brands, dayparts, and categories while delivering best-in-class support to the restaurants that serve our guests.

We feature territories available throughout the US. Inspire is proud to offer restaurant franchise opportunities across our family of unique brands. At Inspire, we’re more than just a family of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands: We were created to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences in communities through a mix of category-leading and innovative restaurant brands. As a global brand, we have over 3,400 franchise restaurant locations in 70 countries around the world. Over a few short years, the Inspire portfolio has grown to encompass nearly 32,000 restaurants across more than 60 countries and all 50 states. Our Restaurant Franchise Opportunities Ignite and Nourishįounded in 2018, Inspire Brands collectively generated more than $30B in global system sales in 2021, making Inspire the second-largest restaurant company in the US.

Inspire brands tot zone