Adidas shared that its supervisory board had promoted Western Europe head Gil Steyaert to global operations chief and elevated Karen Parkin, human resources head since 2014, to the executive board.

Steyaert, who also joins the board, succeeds Glenn Bennett as board member responsible for global operations no later than October 1, 2017. Prior to this appointment, Bennett had informed the supervisory board that, after 20 successful years on the Board, he would not be extending his executive board service contract beyond March 2018. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Bennett agreed with the supervisory board to relinquish his executive board mandate no later than September 30, 2017.

Steyaert, 54, was born in Belgium and is a French national. He has worked at Adidas since 1999 in local and regional roles with increasing responsibility. Since 2013, he has led Adidas’ largest market, Western Europe, as managing director. Under his leadership, sales in the region have grown by more than 50 percent to €5.3 billion (as of December 31, 2016). Prior to that, Steyaert was managing drector North (U.K. plus Ireland, Benelux and Nordics) from 2003 to 2013, including responsibility for the successful London 2012 Olympic Games activities of Adidas. Steyaert started at Adidas as joint managing director for France.

Igor Landau, chairman of the supervisory board of Adidas AG, commented: “With Gil, we are pleased to appoint once again an excellent internal candidate to the executive board. Over the last couple of years, Gil Steyaert was instrumental in growing and harmonizing our business across Western Europe. With this he brings extensive knowledge about our business, our operations and our products to his new role on our executive board. He will continue to make sure that our agile and fast Global Operations remain a competitive advantage as outlined in our ‘Creating the New’ strategy.”

At the same time, Landau thanked Bennett for his achievements. Bennett, 54 and an American, started his career in the sporting goods industry back in 1983 at Reebok. He joined Adidas in 1993 and was appointed to the executive board of Adidas AG in 1997.

Landau stated, “The Adidas success story is closely linked with Glenn leading our Global Operations efforts. During his tenure, our business and our supply chain have constantly changed and evolved while Adidas has developed into a truly global company and a recognized leader in sustainability. On behalf of the supervisory board and all Adidas employees, I would already like to thank Glenn for his fantastic contributions to the company. Glenn and his successor Gil will work closely together to ensure a smooth transition and the successful continuation of our long-term strategy ‘Creating the New.'”

At the same time, English-born Karen Parkin, who has been chief HR Officer at Adidas since November 2014, has joined the executive board.

Parkin, 52, who also holds an American passport, looks back on a long and successful career at Adidas. She joined Adidas in 1997 as Sales Director for Adidas U.K., where she was head of customer service from 2000 to 2001 and business development director from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, she moved to Adidas America as vice president business development, subsequently taking on responsibility for the supply chain function at Adidas America in 2007 as Vice President Supply Chain North America. In 2013 and 2014, Karen Parkin acted as senior vice president global supply chain, based at the company’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach and at the Adidas America headquarters in Portland, OR. Karen Parkin is married, has one adult daughter and keeps herself fit with fitness training and walking.

Landau commented: “At Adidas, we are convinced that our employees are key to the company’s success. This is why our culture and our people are an integral part of our long-term strategic business plan ‘Creating the New’. Karen has successfully led our Global HR function since 2014 and developed our People Strategy. With her international experience, her business expertise and her leadership qualities, Karen will further strengthen Adidas’ position as one of the world’s most attractive employers. Therefore, we are more than happy to elevate her important role to the executive board level.”

Photo courtesy Adidas