Marc Rosen is the chief executive officer of JCPenney. He joined the Company in November 2021. As JCPenney approaches its 120th anniversary in 2022, Marc is focused on leading transformational growth through the next era of the business and strengthening omnichannel capabilities to deliver a seamless shopping experience for customers however they choose to shop.

Rosen has over 25 years of retail and e-commerce experience having previously served as executive vice president and president of Levi Strauss Americas at Levi Strauss & Co., leading commercial operations for Levi’s®, Dockers®, Signature by Levi by Levi Strauss & Co.TM, and Denizen® brands across all channels. As leader of the company’s Digital Enterprise Office, he drove the digital strategy for one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies.

During his tenure at Levi Strauss & Co., Rosen held executive-level roles overseeing their direct-to-consumer business. In this position, he was responsible for leading the company’s global e-commerce and retail businesses, including 3,000 stores, resulting in transformational growth. Prior to Levi Strauss & Co., Rosen spent 14 years at Walmart Inc. in a variety of senior leadership functions, ultimately serving as senior vice president of global e-commerce. He began his career at Ernst & Young, providing strategic retail advisory services.

Rosen holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Michelle Wlazlo joined JCPenney in March 2019 as executive vice president, chief merchandising officer, reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. Wlazlo is responsible for leading the Company’s global merchandise strategy and operations including Merchandising, Planning and Allocation, Pricing, Product Design, and Development and Sourcing.

Wlazlo brings more than 30 years of merchandising and stores experience from a variety of retailers. In her three years at JCPenney, she has led the charge in clarifying and defining the positioning of the Company’s private brands to give customers more choice. Wlazlo led the launch of Thereabouts, JCPenney’s most inclusive kid’s brand yet with adaptive apparel for children of all abilities; established JCPenney Beauty’s partnership with hero brand Thirteen Lune, providing a hyper-inclusive beauty experience; and led the introduction of Hope & Wonder, JCPenney’s new purpose-driven private brand, which celebrates festive holidays as well as important cultural moments and gives back to nonprofit partners, to life. Most recently, Wlazlo led the launch of JCPenney’s denim lifestyle brand for men, Mutual Weave.

Prior to joining JCPenney, she served as senior vice president, merchandising over apparel and accessories, baby gear and essentials at Target Corporation. Before Target, Wlazlo spent 19 years at GAP, Inc., in a variety of roles for Gap, Gap Outlet and Old Navy. She began her career at Saks Fifth Avenue, Inc., before assuming roles as store manager and buyer at Bebe Stores, Inc.

Wlazlo attended Lowthian College in Minneapolis and the Executive Education Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. She currently serves on the board of directors for the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

James (Jim) DePaul joined JCPenney in August 2019 as executive vice president of stores, reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. DePaul leads all aspects of stores, store operations, environment and design, and asset protection. He is responsible for improving in-store and omnichannel operations to deliver an engaging and productive customer experience, grow store traffic, and increase customer retention.

Prior to joining the Company, DePaul spent more than 20 years at Shopko Stores. He most recently served as chief operations officer, where he oversaw all stores, pharmacy, optical, supply chain, e-commerce operations, non-merchandise procurement, store operations, store development, loss prevention, and merchandise support. While at Shopko, DePaul made key improvements to customer service scores, operating expenses, shrink, and overall productivity. He also served as Shopko’s chief administrative officer and senior vice president of store operations. DePaul began his career in 1995 and spent three years at Target Corporation, working in merchandising and operations positions before joining Shopko in 1998 as a store manager.

DePaul holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration-accounting from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and an MBA in finance from Lakeland College in Wisconsin.

Andre Joyner is the senior vice president, chief human resources officer at JCPenney, reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. Andre is responsible for the development and execution of strategic human capital decisions and leads the Company’s human resources functions.

Andre brings more than 20 years of innovative human resources and management experience in retail, health care, and consumer packaged goods industries. Most recently, Andre served as the senior vice president, head of human resources at Victoria’s Secret where he led the brand through its most significant organizational transformation. Earlier in his career, he held HR leadership roles at Merck & Co. and Pepsi-Cola Bottling Group.

Andre holds a Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Committed to lifelong learning through ongoing education, Andre holds designations as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).

Katie Mullen joined JCPenney in January 2022 as chief digital and transformation officer (CDO), reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. Mullen is responsible for leading the growth of the Company’s e-commerce business as JCPenney reimagines how consumers experience JCPenney no matter when, where, and how they want to shop. She also drives the enterprise strategy and transformation agenda, which is intricately connected to the Company’s digital priorities.

Most recently, Mullen served as the chief digital officer at Neiman Marcus Group. She led the $1 billion neimanmarcus.com business and oversaw product management, category management, site merchandising, performance marketing, analytics, data science, promotions, drop-ship buying, e-commerce operations, and new sales channels. Mullen previously held the chief transformation officer role, in which she developed the group’s multi-year growth strategy.

Additionally, she has deep experience as an advisor to the world’s largest retail and consumer brands as a former partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group.

Mullen has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master of business administration degree from University of Pennsylvania.

Stephanie Plaines has served as JCPenney’s chief financial officer (CFO) since August 2022, reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. Stephanie leads all financial activities for the Company, including financial strategy, real estate, capital deployment, credit services, sourcing and procurement, treasury, and accounting.

Plaines is a retail and real estate veteran with over 20 years of high-performance strategic and executive financial leadership with best-in-class global retailers including Starbucks, Walmart and Ahold Delhaize. Plaines applies a customer-first mindset to improve performance and profitability, scale high-growth operating models, and accelerating business transformation. She has deep experience in data-forward financial management and track record of value creation.

Prior to joining JCPenney, Plaines was the executive vice president and CFO at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a leading global commercial real estate services company. While at the company, she completed the largest acquisition and integration in company history, established its capital allocation strategy and drove their finance operating model transformation. Before joining JLL, Plaines served in multiple CFO roles including leading Starbucks’ U.S. division, Sam’s Club e-commerce, and Ahold Delhaize Stop & Shop business. She started her career in investment banking and mergers and acquisitions at UBS.

Plaines is a member on the board of directors of Nielsen Holdings plc and The Clorox Company. She also serves on the firms’ audit committees.

Plaines earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sharmeelee Bala joined JCPenney in January 2022 as chief information officer, reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. Bala is responsible for the Company’s information technology (IT) organization and global technology systems that power the Company’s stores, operational centers and supply chain, and corporate functions.

Before joining the Company, Bala was the head of product engineering at Gap Inc., responsible for providing leadership, strategy, and vision in the development, design, and implementation of all global systems to support every function across Gap’s portfolio of brands. In addition to delivering innovation on gap.com sites and driving the company’s data and analytics strategy, she led its Hyderabad (India) Development Center.

Prior to that role, Bala spent almost 20 years in various senior positions at Walmart Labs, including leading Walmart’s supply chain and merchandising systems. She also served two years as an expat in Bangalore, India, building a state-of-the-art technology development center.

Bala earned a master’s degree in engineering technology from BITS Pilani in India.

John Aylward joined JCPenney in June 2022 as chief marketing officer (CMO), reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. Aylward is responsible for transforming how the Company connects with shoppers. He leads the marketing strategy, creative, visual merchandising and store design, and customer engagement teams.

Aylward has more than 20 years of experience growing brands by creating memorable customer engagements. He has held marketing leadership roles at retail brands including HSN, DSW and Gap.

Prior to JCPenney, Aylward served as CMO at CARE, the global nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty. During his tenure, he doubled brand awareness while overseeing 360-degree marketing campaigns, thought leadership and fundraising.

A dual citizen of the U.S. and U.K., Aylward earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Cambridge. He is a graduate of the TRIUM Executive Master of Business Administration program.

Laurie Wilson joined JCPenney in 2019 as senior vice president of planning and allocation and pricing, reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer. Wilson is responsible for leading and developing strategies to enhance inventory management, lower cost of goods sold, and restore profitable growth. She has over 25 years of experience in planning and allocation, merchandise, finance, pricing, operations, and strategy.

Prior to joining JCPenney, Wilson was president and CEO of LW Associates, a consulting practice focused on transformative strategies leveraging digital technology for retail and wholesale brands and solution providers. Before LW Associates, she spent the majority of her career at Macy’s, Inc., and Federated Department Stores. At Macy’s, Wilson served in several roles of increasing responsibility, including executive vice president of business strategy, where she was responsible for the development of a transformative retail strategy across multiple facets of the company. She also spent 10 years at Federated Department Stores in top leadership roles within planning, merchandise information systems, financial planning and operations, merchandise and financial planning, and allocation. Wilson began her retail career at Carter Hawley Hales Stores, Inc., and Bloomingdale’s, Inc.

Wilson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and French from Princeton University and an Executive MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for Profitect, Inc.

Glen Morris is senior vice president, general counsel at JCPenney, reporting to Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. Morris is responsible for all facets of the legal function at the Company, including corporate law, securities, transactions, litigation, legal real estate, labor and employment, and regulatory issues. He oversees the Company’s ethics and compliance, government relations, and privacy groups.

Morris has more than 25 years of broad legal experience. He joined JCPenney in 2014 as assistant general counsel where he managed litigation matters for the Company. He was promoted to associate general counsel, litigation and privacy in 2020, where he was charged with leading the teams that manage all litigation and privacy affairs for the Company. Before joining JCPenney, Morris spent seven years with the Dallas office of Alston & Bird LLP as a partner with a national trial and appellate litigation practice. He began his practice in the litigation section of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Morris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Baylor University and earned his law degree at Yale Law School.

Mark Conte joined JCPenney in 2021 as senior vice president, principal accounting officer and controller, reporting to Brian Cashman, JCPenney interim CFO. In this role, Conte develops and executes strategic financial decisions and leads the Company’s accounting operations and financial reporting functions, including the support services teams in Salt Lake City and Bangalore, India.

Conte has more than 34 years of accounting and audit leadership experience. Before joining JCPenney, he served as senior vice president, corporate controller, and chief accounting officer at Ingram Micro, a global leader in technology and supply chain services. Before that, Conte was the senior vice president, corporate controller, and chief accounting officer for Staples, Inc. where he led the financial reporting for the company in transitioning from a public to a private company and the transformation of the global controller group and shared service center. Previously, Conte served 15 years in several progressive finance roles for Lehigh Hanson North America – Heidelberg Cement Group. Early in his career, Conte spent 11 years performing audit services with Arthur Andersen & Co. and Ernst & Young.

Conte is a certified public accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Rutgers University.

Val Harris is the senior vice president, product design and development for apparel, footwear, and handbags at JCPenney, reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer. She is responsible for establishing and maintaining relevance across the Company’s apparel, footwear, and handbag categories, and segmenting the Company’s exclusive private brands.

Harris joined the Company in 1978 as a sales associate in Chicago, where she discovered her passion for retail and customer service. With over 35 years of retail experience at JCPenney, she has held merchandising positions of increasing responsibility in stores and in the Home Office, including vice president, product development services, and divisional vice president, product design and development. Most recently, Harris served as vice president, product design and development for women’s apparel, intimates, and accessories where she was responsible for leading strategic brand direction and product design.

Harris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing from Bradley University in Illinois.

Wayne Milano is senior vice president, global sourcing and product development at JCPenney, reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer. Milano joined the Company in 2021 and is responsible for leading product sourcing, development, and execution for private brands across apparel and home products with oversight of the international buying offices.

Milano is a tenured executive with applied knowledge and experience in global sourcing strategies, design and product development, and operational business practices.

Prior to JCPenney, Milano served as senior vice president at Belk, where he led the global sourcing, design, technical design, quality assurance, and operations teams for private brands, while driving product integrity, speed of process, fit and quality consistency, and competitive costing. He also held leadership roles in specialty, wholesale, department store, and supply chain organizations at William E. Connor & Associates, Ltd., PVH, Abercrombie & Fitch, and J.Crew, inclusive of international assignments for more than 12 years.

Milano holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing from Pace University.

Kevin McGhee is senior vice president, general merchandise manager over Home reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of JCPenney’s Home merchandising strategies, ensuring alignment and congruency across categories to create a compelling shopping destination for our customers.

Throughout his career, McGhee has developed a broad range of expertise in Home categories, merchandising, and developing strong vendor partnerships. He most recently served as vice president, divisional merchandise manager where he played a pivotal role in redefining the Home department including several private brand refreshes and launches, helping to gain market share and reposition the Company as a leading Home destination.

McGhee began his tenured career at the Company in 1988 within the Home division and has held different positions of increasing responsibility including senior buyer, Housewares; division merchandise manager, Housewares; and vice president, division merchandise manager of multiple Home businesses. He also briefly worked for Pier 1 Imports as divisional merchandise manager of housewares.

He holds bachelor’s degrees in management and finance from the University of Texas.

Pam Mortensen is senior vice president, general merchandise manager for fine jewelry at JCPenney, reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer. Mortensen joined the Company in 2009 and has implemented popular concepts including Modern Bride^® and Bijoux Bar to position JCPenney as a destination for style and fashion in jewelry.

Prior to JCPenney, Mortensen served in leadership roles at Walmart, Inc. as vice president and divisional merchandise manager of fine jewelry and watches, and at Service Merchandise as vice president and divisional merchandise manager. During her tenure at Walmart, she helped develop standards for responsible jewelry sourcing and launched the Love, Earth jewelry collection, giving customers the ability to trace the path of their jewelry from mine to market. Mortensen began her jewelry career at Zale Corporation and her retail career at Federated Department Stores.

Mortensen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas, and was named an Outstanding Alumna by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences. For 10 years, she has served on the Board of Directors for Jewelers for Children, an organization founded by the U.S. jewelry industry to help children in need, and became chairman in 2017.

Joanne (Jo) Osborne works with JCPenney acting as senior executive, general merchandise manager for Beauty, reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer. Osborne serves as a consultant under contract with JCPenney and is responsible for driving the Company’s success in our beauty business.

Osborne has extensive beauty experience with a proven track record of delivering significant business growth through brand positioning, customer understanding, and gaining market share. Previously, Osborne held the position of senior vice president and general merchandise manager for Beauty and Center Core for Hudson’s Bay and spent 18 years at Harvey Nichols with a position on the board as director of concessions and beauty. She was also on the Board for Cosmetic Executive Women in the United Kingdom.

Chris Phillips is senior vice president, general merchandise manager for the Men’s, Children’s, and Women’s Apparel divisions at JCPenney, reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer. Phillips joined the Company in 2021 and is responsible for leading the brand work and developing merchandising strategies for the divisions.

Phillips is a proven retail leader and brings more than 35 years of experience in brand leadership, merchandising, and product development while successfully driving the customer experience across multiple platforms including in stores, digital, and omnichannel. Prior to JCPenney, Phillips served as the CEO of Mizzen + Main in Dallas where he led the premium performance menswear brand while navigating new dynamics and challenges as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He has also held leadership positions and built strong product portfolios in multiple categories, loyalty programs, and e-commerce businesses with Stitch Fix, Banana Republic, GAP, Inc., and was president of Bootlegger, a Canadian specialty retail brand.

Phillips holds a Bachelor of Science degree in organizational behavior from the University of San Francisco.

Lauren Tessaro joined JCPenney in August 2019 as vice president, divisional merchandise manager of intimate apparel, sleep, lounge, active and swim, reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchant. Tessaro is charged with managing all buying activities within these categories to ensure the assortment is aligned with Company strategy and to promote brand loyalty and excitement among customers. Tessaro was promoted to senior vice president general merchandise manager in March of 2021, adding all adult active and team sports to her responsibilities.

Tessaro brings more than 25 years of experience in fashion merchandising, product development, inventory management and financial planning to the Company. She most recently served as vice president of merchandising for intimate apparel and swimwear at FULLBEAUTY Brands™, where she developed merchandise, marketing and pricing strategies for multiple plus-size women’s brands in print and digital channels. Before FULLBEAUTY, she was vice president of merchandising and production development at Cupid Foundations Inc. and spent six years at Lane Bryant in various leadership roles. At Lane Bryant, Tessaro served as vice president, divisional merchandise manager of intimate apparel and senior vice president, general merchandise manager of merchandising, design and technical design, where she led strategic initiatives in bra innovation, swimwear and plus-size intimate apparel. Before joining Lane Bryant in 2009, Tessaro spent 10 years at Macy’s Inc. in merchandise buying and planning roles. At Macy’s, she ultimately served as vice president, divisional merchandise manager of intimate apparel in the Florida region.

Tessaro holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Fashion Merchandising from Florida State University.