Michelle D. Gass (Petkers) is an American businesswoman who currently serves as the CEO and Director of Levi Corporation, a position she has held since December 2022.

Education and career

Gass has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from

Worcester Polytechnic Institute '' , mottoeng = "Theory and Practice" , established = , former_name = Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science (1865-1886) , type = Private research university , endowme ...

and an MBA from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. Gass is a Starbucks veteran who took the chain in a new direction in 1996. She "helped make 'frappuccino' a household word" which became Starbucks' $2 billion brand in 2011. Before joining Kohl's, Gass worked at

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

and at

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

. She started with Kohls in 2013 as their first chief customer officer. She led the creation of Kohl's Greatness Agenda in 2014, was named chief merchandising officer in 2015, and was promoted to be the CEO-elect in 2017. With a compensation of $12.34 million, she was ranked as 71st on the "100 Most Overpaid CEOs 2020", a report by As You Sow. Gass has been a member of the board of directors of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

since March 2019. In 2005, Gass was awarded the Ichabod Washburn Young Alumni for Professional Achievement award by Worcester Polytechnic Institute and in 2007, she was named a Woman to Watch by Advantage Age. In 2018, Homeworld Business named Gass one of its "Players" and a person to watch in housewares in the coming year. In November 2022, it was announced that Gass would be stepping down as Kohl's CEO by early December and become the CEO-in-waiting for

Levi Strauss & Co Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

Personal life

Gass was raised in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. She married Scott Gass on August 20, 1994. They have two children named Megan and Will.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gass, Michelle Living people American women chief executives Women corporate executives Year of birth missing (living people) Worcester Polytechnic Institute alumni American retail chief executives University of Washington alumni Businesspeople from Maine Starbucks people 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen