Philanthropy
Accelerating Circularity
Textile-to-textile recycling advocate Accelerating Circularity has promoted Eileen Mockus to the role of chief executive officer as founder and current-CEO Karla Magruder transitions to the role of board chair. Currently serving as chief operating officer, Mockus will now also lead the nonprofit as it advances from proof-of-concept to commercial scale. She brings 20-plus years of relevant experience, formerly serving as CEO of Coyuchi and in various roles at companies like the Pottery Barn brands, The North Face and Patagonia.
Related Stories
Brands
Under Amour
Baltimore-based athletic brand Under Armour has named Reza Taleghani as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective February 2026. He succeeds current CFO and 21-year veteran, David Bergman, who will remain with the company through the first quarter of fiscal 2027 for the transition.
Taleghani has more than 25 years of global financial and operational leadership experience. He joins from Samsonite Group, where he has served as EVP and CFO since 2018, overseeing global finance, accounting, investor relations, treasury and internal audits as well as mergers and acquisitions. Before joining Samsonite, Taleghani served as president and CFO at Brightstar Corp., a SoftBank portfolio company, and previously spent over 15 years at J.P. Morgan.
Next Level Apparel
Veteran-owned blank apparel designer, supplier and manufacturer Next Level Apparel has named Brett Bjorkman as chief executive officer, following the retirement of the founder and former CEO, Joe Simsolo. Bjorkman brings 30 years of experience across brand and wholesale, including roles at Nike, Boardriders, Augusta Sportswear and, most recently, as chief operating officer at Next Level Apparel. Under Bjorkman’s leadership, the company will continue expanding its footprint internationally, diversifying its supply chain for resilience and strengthening partnerships with compliance and provenance organizations.
Rhone
Stamford, Conn.-based performance apparel brand Rhone has named Matthew Wallace as chief operating officer. In this role, Wallace will oversee the finance, people, supply chain and operations, as well as the technology functions. He brings three decades of relevant expertise, leading operations and business development, optimizing supply chains and fostering team players. Most recently, he served as the CEO and co-founder of fashion technology startup DXM Inc., and previously held senior leadership roles at companies including Walmart and PVH Corp.
Retail
Vera Bradley
Fort Wayne, Indiana-based women’s accessories label Vera Bradley has named Melinda Paraie chief brand officer. Paraie served as the chief executive officer of Cath Kidston from 2018-2023, managing the brand through its challenging business environment during COVID-19, 2020 bankruptcy and eventual sale. Previously, she spent over a decade at Tapestry, most recently serving as senior vice president of merchandising for North America and, before that, for the APAC region. Paraie also served as chief merchandising officer for John Hardy and acted as a strategic advisor to brands including The Body Shop, Adolfo Dominguez and Vera Bradley.
Poshmark
Resale marketplace Poshmark announced that Deb Liu has joined its board of directors. Liu most recently served as president and CEO of Ancestry, where she led the genealogy company’s rebrand that emphasized cultural inclusivity, technological advancement and accessibility. Before that, Liu spent over a decade at Meta—where she conceived and launched Facebook Marketplace—and built its first mobile ad products and payments infrastructure. Earlier in her career, she led the eBay-PayPal product integration and bolstered the eBay buyer experience.
Aditya Birla Group
Indian fashion retail company Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Limited (ABLBL) has announced the appointment of Preeti Gupta as chief business officer for its Van Heusen Innerwear division. She will oversee brand strategy and consumer positioning, product and category expansion, and retail and distribution growth across channels. An alumna of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Gupta brings over 25 years of experience across the intimates, fashion and digital-first retail sectors. Before joining ABLBL, she most recently served as chief business officer of owned brands at e-commerce company Nykaa Fashion, previously spending over six years as chief operating officer of lingerie shop Enamor.
Raw Materials
Nuyarn Technologies
Performance yarn and fabric developer Nuyarn has appointed Monica Ebert as vice president of sales for North America to lead strategic product partnerships and business development. Elbert joins from the Woolmark Company, where she served as business development, sports and performance, and sustainability manager for the Americas.
Technology
Rokt
Rokt, a technology company using AI for e-commerce and sales growth, has shared several leadership updates.
Jon Humphrey has been promoted to senior vice president of operations and advertising, joining Rokt’s executive committee and reporting directly to CEO Bruce Buchanan. In this expanded role, Humphrey will be responsible for Rokt Ads, adding to his current oversight of go-to-market delivery across operations, solutions, launch and partnerships. Reuben Kan has been promoted from senior vice president of engineering to the newly created role of chief research officer. Kan will lead the company’s next wave of technical innovations as well as set its research agenda.
David Obstler, CFO of Datadog, joins the Rokt board and will chair the audit committee. Matt Briers, former CFO of Wise, joins as a board advisor and observer of both the board and its audit committee.
