Payless Holdings LLC announced the appointment of Mary Chris Gay as an independent director of the company.

Gay is a principal at Bristol Partners LLC and serves as a financial consultant to start-up companies in early-stage financing. She also serves on the board of directors of MGM Resorts International, one of the world’s leading global hospitality and entertainment companies.

“The addition of Mary Chris to our board will be–and already has been–a game changer,” commented Martin R. Wade III, chairman of the board and interim CEO. “She not only brings years of financial expertise, but her knowledge of the lodging and gaming industries, where providing high-quality, engaging experiences for consumers is paramount, translates directly to our customer-focused mission here at Payless.”

Gay will chair the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance and Nominating committees and serve on the Audit and Special committees. Her appointment expands the board size to five.

About Mary Chris Gay

Gay is a Principal at Bristol Partners LLC and has been a financial consultant since 2013. Gay is a qualified financial expert with four years of public company board experience at a global organization. In 2014, Gay was elected to the board of directors of MGM Resorts International.

Gay enjoyed a successful 25-year financial services career serving as senior vice president and portfolio manager at Legg Mason Inc. While at Legg Mason, she was instrumental in launching the institutional funds effort for Legg Mason subsidiary, Legg Mason Capital Management (now ClearBridge). Named a portfolio manager at the age of 31, Gay helped grow assets under management that she was responsible for managing to over $20 billion. Gay served on the steering committee for Legg Mason’s Women’s Leadership Network and was an active long-term member of the United Way of Central Maryland’s Women’s Leadership Council. Gay was selected as one of the “20 Directors to Watch” in 2017 by Directors and Boards magazine. Gay serves on two non-profit boards and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and the Women Corporate Directors Foundation (WCD).

Payless ShoeSource has over 3,500 stores.