This ‘Woman Of Achievement’ Owns 9 McDonald’s In New Jersey

NEW JERSEY— A Cuban-born business owner who owns several McDonald's restaurants in Essex and Hudson counties recently earned a Women of Achievement Award from the Tri-County Scholarship Fund.

Ana Madan, who is now the owner/operator of nine McDonald's in New Jersey, was honored during a special luncheon ceremony at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park earlier this month.

The award recognizes “outstanding women whose career accomplishments and community service make them leaders in the community and role models for the organization’s scholarship students.”

Madan’s first McDonald's restaurant was located on the McCarter Highway in Newark. In addition to other locations in the Brick City, she also has restaurants in Bayonne, Belleville, Bloomfield and Jersey City.

“I am so thrilled to receive this recognition and alongside many outstanding, hardworking women,” Madan said.

Born in Havana, Madan’s family immigrated to the United States in 1960. She began her McDonald’s career as a crew member, and was approved as an owner/operator in 1986, when she became one of the youngest women at the time to be approved in the system.

Throughout her years with the company, Madan has held several positions, most recently as the national chair of the McDonald’s Hispanic Owner/Operator Association, becoming the first woman to hold that post in the organization’s 50-year history.

She was also the first woman and the only person of Hispanic heritage to serve as president of McDonald’s New York Metro Coop.

In addition to owning and operating her restaurants, Madan and her team hold weekly events for families in need, feed people experiencing homeless, and provide educational activities for school-age children. She has also served on the board of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in the New York region.

Madan and her family also support the McDonald’s Hispanic American Commitment to Education Resources (HACER) scholarship program in the New York Tri-State area, which provides young Hispanic students with the opportunity to become the first person in their family to attend college.

According to a news release from McDonald’s USA, 95 percent of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. There are more than 560 McDonald’s restaurants, owned by 65 franchisees, located throughout the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area.

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