Mark Genender is the Chairman of our Board of Directors, and from October 2023 through July 2024, he served as Interim CEO at Serta Simmons Bedding.
Mark is also a Managing Partner at Bristol Growth Capital, LLC, a growth and early-stage investor in the consumer/retail and media and technology sectors. Mark previously served in senior investment roles at Eldridge Industries and in the same role at the predecessor entity, Guggenheim Partners.
Prior to joining Guggenheim, Mark was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Red Mountain Capital; co-founded Star Avenue Capital, a consumer growth equity vehicle; and served as a Managing Director/Partner at Fenway Partners. While at Fenway Partners, he served as a Director on the Simmons Bedding Board, working very closely with management.
Mark received his A.B. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and received his M.B.A. from INSEAD.
Jim Loree is the Chief Executive Officer at Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB).
Loree is the former Chief Executive Officer of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., a position he held from 2016 to June 2022. He also served on the Board of Directors of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. during that time.
As CEO, Loree led more than 60,000 employees across 60 countries who make power tools, hand tools, outdoor power equipment and industrial products. Under Loree’s leadership, the company gained recognition for its work in advanced manufacturing, operational excellence, responsible business practices, and as a best workplace for innovators as well as for diversity and inclusion.
Loree originally joined the company, then Stanley Works, as Vice President and CFO in 1999. In that role, he pursued a strategy which included re-architecting the business portfolio and reorienting the company culture to organic and inorganic growth. He was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer in 2009 and then CEO in 2016. During his tenure, Loree led growth strategies to increase revenue from $2 billion to $16 billion.
Prior to joining Stanley Works in 1999, Loree spent 19 years at General Electric Company in a combination of leadership positions in finance, strategic planning and operating management.
Loree holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Union College, and serves on the board of Whirlpool Corporation, United Natural Foods, Inc., and Quinnipiac University, and is a director of the Jim and Rebecca Loree Foundation.
Alan Shaw brings more than 30 years in consumer durables experience to SSB, most recently as President & CEO, North America, Electrolux. Alan previously served as President of the Americas at the Husqvarna Group; President & CEO at Char-Broil; President & CEO at consumer lawn and garden equipment manufacturer Murray; and in various senior leadership roles at Whirlpool, where he ran global product development for two major categories.
Alan received his B.S. in political science and economics from the University of Idaho and received his M.B.A. in marketing from Indiana University.
Brandi Thomas serves as the Chief Audit Executive and Head of Strategic Risk Management at General Motors, ensuring strong controls and forward-thinking risk mitigation strategies for the $43B global enterprise with more than 165,000 employees on six continents.
Previously, Brandi served as Chief Audit Executive & Chief Diversity Officer at GE; Chief Audit Executive of Delta Airlines; and earlier in her career, as Head of Internal Audit for public companies including Uber, where she was a key advisor to leadership and early-stage investors as the company prepared for IPO.
Brandi has also served as Controller, Division CFO and P&L leader at Nordson Corporation, and she began her career in GE’s Financial Management Program before specializing in audit at Ernst & Young.
She is also a board member and audit committee chair for Nextracker (NXT:Nasdaq).
Brandi earned a B.S. in finance and international studies from Case Western Reserve University.
James (Jim) Fogarty serves as the CEO at FULLBEAUTY Brands, Inc., a privately held, branded, multi-channel retailer focused on fashion apparel and home goods for plus-sized women and men.
Previously, Jim was the CEO and a Director of Orchard Brands, a multi-channel marketer of apparel and home products; President, CEO and Director of Charming Shoppes, Inc., a multi-brand, specialty apparel retailer; Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal, an independent global professional services firm; President and COO of Lehman Brothers Holdings (subsequent to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing);
President and CEO of American Italian Pasta Company, the largest producer of dry pasta in North America; CFO of Levi Strauss & Co., a brand-name apparel company, and Senior Vice President and CFO of The Warnaco Group, a global apparel maker.
Jim is also a board member of Darden Restaurants, where he serves on the nominating & governance and finance committees.
Jim earned a B.S. in economics & computer science from Williams College, and an M.B.A. in finance & accounting from the NYU Stern School of Business.
Tim Yaggi serves as the President and CEO of Pella Corporation, an industry leader in the North American building products market.
Previously, Tim served in executive leadership roles at Whirlpool Corporation (where he most recently served as Executive Vice President, North America Market and a member of the Executive Committee) and at Masco Corporation, where he served as Group President of the North America Builder Group and oversaw a portfolio of seven independent companies with 15,000 employees.
Tim serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Policy Advisory Board of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Tim earned his undergraduate A.B. from Princeton University and holds an M.B.A. from Michigan State University.
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