Grocery Outlet Appoints 2 New Directors

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. announced that it has expanded the company’s board of directors to 12 members with the appointments of Gail Moody-Byrd and Maria Fernanda Mejia.

The appointments, effective Jan. 18, add experience in retail software marketing and CPG brand strategy to the board of the fast-growing Emeryville, Calif.-based discounter.

“We are pleased to be welcoming Gail and Maria Fernanda to our board of directors. Both are highly accomplished in their fields and bring tremendous experience to the organization,” Erik Ragatz, chairman of the Grocery Outlet board, said in a statement. “Gail’s background in brand awareness, technology and data-driven consumer marketing and retail industry consulting, combined with Maria Fernanda’s experience in strategic planning, supply chain and customer engagement further strengthen our board. Importantly, Gail and Maria Fernanda are champions of diversity and strongly align with Grocery Outlet’s culture. We look forward to benefiting from their expertise, creativity and enthusiasm as we continue to advance our long-term growth strategies.”

Moody-Byrd brings more than 35 years of experience in B2B technology marketing and retail/wholesale industry consulting, merchandising and planning. She currently is chief marketing officer of Noodle.ai, an artificial intelligence software company, where she oversees the marketing stack, including category and brand awareness, demand generation, digital marketing and business development.

She is also a member of the board of directors of Juma Ventures, a nonprofit that strives to break the cycle of poverty by paving the way to work, education and financial capability for youth across America. Prior to joining Noodle.ai, she worked for SAP SE, the market leader in enterprise software applications, for 10 years, most recently as VP of web marketing. Her retail industry experience includes roles with divisions of Macy’s Inc., Target Corp., and Levi, Strauss & Co. and as a retail consultant with McKinsey & Co. and Walter K. Levy Associates. Moody-Byrd graduated with her MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and received her Bachelor of Arts in economics from Spelman College in Atlanta.

Mejia’s global career extends more than 30 years in general management and operations. She brings expertise in strategic planning, brand management, customer development, supply chain, digital engagement, M&A and talent development.

She most recently was SVP at The Kellogg Co. and president of Kellogg Latin America. During her tenure, she led the growth and transformation of Kellogg’s Latin America business and organization, including the development of a long-term strategy to accelerate growth in the core and emerging core segments. Mejia was also a talent leader and diversity champion of Kellogg’s corporate and regional initiatives.

Prior to Kellogg, Mejia served as corporate VP and general manager of global personal care at Colgate-Palmolive Co., where she had direct oversight of strategy category and brand development, consumer insights, R&D and supply chain. Mejia currently serves as a non-executive director at Bunzl PLC. She recently was a non-executive director of International Consolidated Airlines Group. Mejia graduated from Texas A&M University College of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in industrial distribution.