Michelle Gass

Michelle Gass has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Levi Strauss & Co. since 2024 and is also a member of the company’s board of directors. She initially joined LS&Co. in 2023 as President, overseeing the Levi’s® brand and leading the company’s global digital and commercial operations. In 2024, she was promoted to CEO by the board of directors. Prior to joining LS&Co., Gass served as CEO of Kohl’s, where she led the transformation of the company’s effort to become a leading omnichannel retailer while acquiring and elevating notable national brand partnerships, including a long-term partnership with Sephora.

During her time at Kohl’s, Gass drove significant capabilities in digital, growing the e-commerce business at a double-digit rate to $6 billion annually and evolving the Kohl’s loyalty program into an industry-leading platform. Gass joined Kohl’s in 2013 as chief customer officer and was named chief merchandising and customer officer in 2015. She was promoted to CEO-elect in October 2017 prior to assuming the CEO role in May 2018. She has more than 30 years of experience in the retail and consumer goods industries. Before joining Kohl’s, she spent more than 16 years with Starbucks and held a variety of leadership roles across marketing, strategy, merchandising and operations before being promoted to president, Starbucks EMEA. Gass began her career with Procter & Gamble.

Throughout her career, she has received numerous professional honors, including being named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business and Businessperson of the Year lists, as well as being named The Visionary 2020 by the National Retail Federation. Gass currently serves on the Board of Directors for PepsiCo, and on the Boards of the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation. She received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the University of Washington.