While the company is reportedly considering divesting its activewear inventory at a loss in the double-digit millions of dollars to simplify its strategy following recent layoffs and a stock decline, San Francisco-based global lifestyle brand Allbirds Inc. announced the appointment of Ann Freeman to the company’s board of directors, effective Aug. 16. Freeman is an industry veteran who spent more than 26 years at Nike, where she held multiple leadership positions across all major global markets. Most recently, she was VP and GM of North America, Nike’s largest market, where she led a team of 25,000 employees and oversaw all aspects of the business, including full responsibility for P&L, strategy, product and merchandising, marketing, market development, retail, digital and brand management. Before that, Freeman was VP of global sales, where she led an internal global reorganization initiative that eliminated friction within complex structures and focused on delivering a world-class customer experience while focusing on direct sales e-commerce.
Joey Zwillinger, co-founder and co-CEO of Allbirds, said, “Ann brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and leadership to this role, and we believe her strong track record of leading diverse teams and solving complex problems within the world’s largest footwear company will be a tremendous benefit to our company as we continue to scale and gain momentum with consumers around the world.”
Freeman replaces Nancy Green, who joined Allbirds’ board in February 2020 and was a key advisor in the company’s November 2021 IPO.
