Staffing

Luna Grill hires 'head of People'

AJ Kamra is Luna Grill's head of People. Provided

June 3, 2020

A week after announcing that it had hired Michelle Goncalves as itsVP of Culinary, San Diego-based Luna Grill has named AJ Kamra its first-ever head of People. Most recently, Kamra held the same title at Sustainable Restaurant Group in Portland, Oregon, and served as SVP of Human Resources at OTG Management in New York.

Kamra will work directly with CFO Bob Bartlett on the company's overall financial and economic direction, overseeing HR, talent acquisition, benefits and team-member relations with a focus on driving overall branding as an employer of choice, according to a company press release.

"Working in partnership with the entire management team, AJ and I will be looking at ways to do everything better, across all disciplines, building a 'best in class culture' and give team members long-term opportunities for growth," according to Bartlett, who said Bartlet Kamra's position was key to the brand's focus on adapting to the changing restaurant environment.

"We are perfectly positioned right now to put strategies and processes in place as Luna continues to grow," Kamra said in the press release. "Work being done now is being done for what we will need three, four, five years from now, looking proactively into the future."