Gap. Inc.’s new chief executive officer Richard Dickson has made his first executive appointments.
On Friday, Dickson, who joined Gap Inc. in late August 2023, named Eric Chan chief business and strategy officer, and Amy Thompson chief people officer. Both will join Gap Inc.’s executive leadership team and report to Dickson.
“Eric Chan and Amy Thompson will play a critical role in solidifying our foundation as we redefine Gap Inc. for a new era — one where operational rigor becomes a consistent cornerstone of strength for us, bolstered by best-in-class talent and a culture of creativity — all paving the way for brand reinvigoration and cultural relevance,” said Dickson in a statement.
Chan’s job as chief business and strategy officer is a new one, which the company indicated involves overseeing the development of corporate strategy and business levers to execute that strategy.
Chan has more than 20 years of financial and operational experience at both Fortune 500 and start-up companies, most recently as chief financial officer of the L.A. Clippers professional basketball team. Previously, he served as chief operating officer for The Bouqs Company and, prior to that, CFO for Loot Crate, where he helped scale the company from a start-up to $165 million in revenue.
“Chan has a proven track record of leading scaled, creative and entrepreneurial business strategies, fiscal and organizational goal setting and operations oversight,” the company indicated in its announcement
“There is so much potential in Gap Inc.’s portfolio of iconic brands, and I’m excited to join the team at such a pivotal moment in the company’s history,” said Chan. “I look forward to working alongside Gap Inc. leadership to develop and execute against our strategic agenda.”
Thompson will succeed Sheila Peters who previously revealed she would be stepping down. She had served as chief people officer since 2020.
Gap indicated that Thompson has 25 years of experience leading cultural change for companies, and has a start-up mentality. She most recently served as chief people officer at Mattel, where Dickson served as president and chief operating officer before he joined Gap.
Earlier in her career Thompson was chief people officer at Toms and before served in human resource executive roles at Starbucks and Ticketmaster. Gap said that while at Mattel, “Thompson led the effort to elevate corporate mission, purpose, and values, while supporting business transformation with an improved operating model, talent initiatives, and enhanced performance incentive programs.”
Thompson said, “I look forward to working hand-in-hand with leadership to empower and energize the organization, creating a culture that thrives on collaboration, creativity, and purpose.”
Said Dickson: “Amy uniquely understands the careful alchemy of people, strategy and culture driving extraordinary results and has distinguished herself as a builder of purpose-driven, highly effective teams dedicated to driving business success.”
In an interview with WWD last November, when asked if there was room to bring in new talent, Dickson said, “We’re always assessing and evaluating our talent associated with what our objectives are. There’s great talent in this organization. With new leadership, new expectations, new vision, a lot of the talent is going to step up to a new level of creativity. But I do think there’s an opportunity to recruit and attract new creative talent.”
