Neiman Marcus Group puts more women in senior VP roles
Neiman Marcus Group has made three key appointments at the senior level as part of its ongoing effort to reflect “a more modern growth mindset."
The company said the changes are examples of the luxury retailer’s majority-women-led organization. Women represent the majority of the NMG’s board of directors. They also represent more than 50% of leaders at the senior VP level and above, 59% of VPs and above, and 69% of all corporate and store employees.
NMG named Natalie Lockhart as senior VP, strategy and execution, responsible for coordinating all aspects of the luxury retailer's growth roadmap. In this role, Lockhart is now also a member of the company’s group leadership team and leads the newly created growth execution office, which coordinates the strategy and execution of the program and initiatives that support the company's growth work.
The group leadership team has three functions: corporate strategy to drive analytics to support strategic decisions, execution management to lead the roll-out of this work and drive implementation across the organization, and change enablement to develop a change strategy and amplify key initiatives.
Also, Chris Demuth has been promoted to senior VP, people services, ESG, belonging and corporate philanthropy. In this expanded role, she will provide governance over the company's culture alongside Eric Severson, executive VP, chief people and belonging officer. The investments the company is making in ESG and belonging are key components of the retailer’s culture, which it has dubbed “NMG|Way.
NMG said it has partnerships with Textile Exchange, Give Back Box, and Fashionphile to support its increased focus on sustainable products and services. The company is also beginning to advance workplace equality by aligning its practices with external standards like Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which it participated in for the first time earlier this year.
In addition, Tiffin Jernstedt, who has been working at the company on an interim basis, has been named senior VP, chief communications officer. She officially joins NMG with more than 15 years of experience leading global fashion and lifestyle brands communications. She previously served in leadership roles at PVH, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.
“Finding and developing key talent at NMG is critical to support our growth," said Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO, Neiman Marcus Group. "Having the right leaders in place to lead the strategy, provide governance over our culture, and amplify all of this great work through communications will ensure our organization continues to strategically transform for the better, the NMG|Way, to deliver profitable and sustainable growth."