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Our executive leadership team sets the company's overall direction and oversees all major strategic, financial and operational decisions.

Board of Directors

Michelle Gass joined Levi Strauss & Co. in 2023 as president, where she was responsible for leading the Levi’s® brand and LS&Co.’s global digital and commercial operations. She has been LS&Co.’s president and chief executive officer since 2024. With over 30 years of experience in the retail and consumer goods industries, Ms. Gass previously served as a former CEO of Kohl’s, where she was recognized as The Visionary 2020 by the National Retail Federation. She also spent over 16 years in leadership roles at Starbucks. She began her career with Procter & Gamble. She currently serves on the board of directors for PepsiCo and on the boards of the Retail Industry Leaders Associates and the National Retail Federation. She is also a member of the Levi Strauss Foundation board.

Troy Alstead, a director since 2012, is the founder and President of Table 47 and Ocean5, a restaurant and social concept. In February 2016, he retired from Starbucks Corporation after 24 years with the company, having most recently served as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Alstead previously held the positions of Group President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of Starbucks, and a number of operational, general management and finance roles throughout the years. Mr. Alstead spent a decade in Starbucks international business, including roles as Senior Leader of Starbucks International, President of Europe, Middle East and Africa headquartered in Amsterdam and Chief Operating Officer of Starbucks Greater China headquartered in Shanghai. Mr. Alstead currently serves as a director of Harley-Davidson, Inc., Array Technologies, and OYO Global. Mr. Alstead brings to our board of directors his broad financial and business perspective developed over many years in the global consumer goods industry.

Jill Beraud, a director since 2013, most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Ippolita, a privately-held luxury jewelry company with distribution in high-end department stores, flagship and eCommerce, from October 2015 until September 2018. Prior to Ippolita, Ms. Beraud was Executive Vice President for Tiffany & Co., with responsibility for its Global Retail Operations and oversight of strategic store development and real estate from October 2014 until June 2015. Prior to Tiffany & Co., Ms. Beraud was with Living Proof, Inc., a privately-held company that uses advanced medical and materials technologies to create hair care and skin care products for women, where she was Chief Executive Officer from December 2011 to October 2014. Prior to that, Ms. Beraud served as President of Starbucks/Lipton Joint Ventures and Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo Americas Beverages from July 2009 to June 2011, and PepsiCo’s Global Chief Marketing Officer from December 2008 to July 2009. Before PepsiCo, Ms. Beraud spent 13 years at Limited Brands in various roles, including Chief Marketing Officer of Victoria’s Secret and Executive Vice President of Marketing for its broader portfolio of specialty brands, including Bath & Body Works, C.O. Bigelow, Express, Henri Bendel and Limited Stores. Ms. Beraud currently serves as a director of Revance Therapeutics, Inc., on the Board of Governors for the World of Children non-profit organization and as Chair of the Board for the Fashion for Good Foundation. Ms. Beraud was selected to join our board of directors due to her extensive marketing, social media and consumer branding experience, as well as her extensive managerial and operational knowledge in the apparel and other consumer goods industries.

Chip Bergh, executive vice chair, served as LS&Co.’s president and chief executive officer from 2011 to 2024 and has been a director on the board since 2011. Prior to joining LS&Co., Mr. Bergh held a progression of leadership roles during his 28-year career at Procter & Gamble. Mr. Bergh is also the non-executive Chairman of the Board at HP, Inc. He previously served on the board of directors for VF Corporation, the Singapore Economic Development Board and was a member of the US-ASEAN Business Council, Singapore.

Robert A. Eckert, a director since 2010, is Operating Partner of FFL Partners, LLC, a private equity firm, since September 2014. Mr. Eckert is also Chairman Emeritus of Mattel, Inc., a role he has held since January 2013. He was Mattel’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from May 2000 until December 2011, and he continued to serve as its Chairman until December 2012. He previously worked for Kraft Foods, Inc. for 23 years, and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from October 1997 until May 2000. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Eckert was Group Vice President of Kraft Foods, and from 1993 to 1995, Mr. Eckert was President of the Oscar Mayer foods division of Kraft Foods. Mr. Eckert is currently a director of McDonald’s Corporation, Amgen, Inc., Uber Technologies, Inc., Eyemart Express Holdings, LLC and Quinn Company. Mr. Eckert was selected to join our board of directors due to his experience as a senior executive engaged with the dynamics of building global consumer brands through high performance expectations, integrity and decisiveness in driving businesses to successful results.

Spencer C. Fleischer, a director since 2013, is Chairman of FFL Partners, LLC, a private equity firm. Before co-founding FFL Partners in 1997 and serving as Managing Partner until 2021, Mr. Fleischer spent 19 years at Morgan Stanley & Co. as an investment banker and senior leader. During his time there, he led business units in Asia, Europe and the United States. Mr. Fleischer currently serves as a director of The Clorox Company and Americans for Oxford, Inc. Mr. Fleischer was selected to join our board of directors due to his broad financial and international business perspective developed over many years in the private equity and investment banking industries.

David A. Friedman, a director since 2018, is a retired Senior Principal, Emeritus Chief Executive Officer, and past-Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Forell/Elsesser Engineers, with over 40 years of professional practice in structural and earthquake engineering. Mr. Friedman is the President and an active member of the board of directors for the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, which disseminates lessons learned from earthquakes around the world, and served on its post-earthquake reconnaissance teams in Kobe, Japan in 1995 and Wenchuan, China in 2008. Mr. Friedman is also involved in many institutional, academic, philanthropic and not-for-profit boards, including the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, the University of California, Berkeley Foundation, the Jewish Home of San Francisco and Build Change. Mr. Friedman is a licensed structural engineer in California, Nevada and British Columbia. Mr. Friedman was selected to join our board of directors due to his broad professional experience, as well as his extensive background with our company arising from his familial connection to our founder.

Yael Garten, a director since 2020, is the AI/ML Director of Data Science and Engineering at Apple, where she joined in 2017. From 2011 to 2017, she was Director of Data Science at LinkedIn. Prior to joining LinkedIn, she was a Research Scientist and Text Mining Lead at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Garten was selected to join our board of directors for her expertise in data science, machine learning, and converting data into actionable product and business strategy. She has applied this expertise across products and services with massive global user bases.

David Marberger currently serves as the executive vice president and chief financial officer for Conagra Brands, where he oversees the company's finance and information technology functions. He joined Conagra Brands in August 2016. Prior to joining Conagra Brands, Mr. Marberger served as chief financial officer at Prestige Brands, a provider of over-the-counter health care products with a portfolio of over 80 brands. Mr. Marberger also served as chief financial officer of Godiva Chocolatier for seven years, where he was responsible for the finance, accounting, audit, tax and IT functions, in addition to overseeing Godiva’s worldwide strategic planning process. And before that, Mr. Marberger served as chief financial officer of Tasty Baking Company and spent 10 years at Campbell Soup Company, where he held finance roles with increasing responsibility.

Christopher McCormick, a director since 2016, was President and Chief Executive Officer of L.L. Bean, Inc. from 2001 until 2016. Prior to becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of L.L. Bean, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer from 2000 to 2001. Mr. McCormick joined L.L. Bean in 1983, previously serving in a number of senior and executive level positions in advertising and marketing. Mr. McCormick is a director of Big Lots!, Inc and serves as Committee Chair for its Capital Allocation & Planning Committee. He is also a former director of Sun Life Financial, Inc. Mr. McCormick brings to our board of directors his deep channel knowledge and eCommerce and direct marketing experience.

Jenny Ming, a director since 2014, is CEO of Rothys. Prior to becoming CEO of Rothys, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of Charlotte Russe Inc., a fast-fashion specialty retailer of apparel and accessories catering to young women, a position she held from October 2009 to February 2019. From March 1999 to October 2006, Ms. Ming served as President of Old Navy, a $7 billion brand in The Gap, Inc.’s portfolio, where she oversaw all aspects of Old Navy and its 900 retail clothing stores in the United States and Canada. Ms. Ming joined The Gap, Inc. in 1986, serving in various executive capacities at its San Francisco headquarters, and in 1994, she was a member of the executive team who launched Old Navy. Ms. Ming serves on the Boards of Directors of Poshmark, Affirm, Kendra Scott, Rothy’s and Kaiser Hospital and Health Plan. Ms. Ming was selected to join our board of directors due to her extensive operational and retail leadership experience in the apparel industry.

Joshua E. Prime joined our board of directors in 2019. Mr. Prime is the Partner, Idea Generation and Research, at Indaba Capital Management, L.P., where he has served since its founding in 2010. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Prime was a manager of retail strategy for the Americas Region of Levi Strauss & Co. From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Prime served as an analyst in merger arbitrage, special situations and credit at Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C. Mr. Prime was selected to join our board of directors due to his broad professional experience, including with our company, and his additional insight arising from his familial connection to our founder.

Elliott Rodgers currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at Foot Locker, Inc having joined the company in December 2022. Prior to joining Foot Locker, Elliott served as Chief People Officer at project44, a supply chain visibility platform from October 2021 to December 2022. Mr. Rodgers previously served as Chief Information Officer and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Ulta Beauty. He joined Ulta Beauty in 2013 and served in a number of senior positions where he led distribution, transportation, supplier operations, sales and operations planning, and supply chain strategy, including leading the transformation of Ulta Beauty’s supply chain in support of its strategic imperatives. Prior to Ulta Beauty, Mr. Rodgers held operational leadership roles spanning retail, financial services, and logistics at Target, Citibank and the United States Army.