CHRO Moves this week include:
Panera Bread | Mimecast Limited | Airgain, Inc. |
Preferred Mutual Insurance Company | SmileDirectClub | Torchy’s Tacos |
Sterling Construction Company, Inc. | Pacific Western Bank | BetterCloud |
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Panera Bread [ST. LOUIS] announced that Anita Vanderveer has recently joined the company’s senior management team as SVP, Chief People Officer. Most recently, Anita served as senior vice president of people for the national headquarters of SONIC®, America’s Drive-In®. Vanderveer began her career with Pizza Hut/Yum! Brands more than 25 years ago in restaurant operations and has served in a variety of human resources executive positions.
Mimecast Limited [LEXINGTON, Mass.] (NASDAQ: MIME) announced Karen Anderson as its new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). In her last role, Karen was the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Previously, she was Vice President of Human Resources for Pfizer. Earlier in her career she was responsible for compensation, benefits and systems for Bayer Canada before becoming the Global Human Resources Director for Baxter.
Airgain, Inc. [SAN DIEGO] (NASDAQ: AIRG) announced Kathy Pearson as the Vice President of Global Human Resources and Administration. Pearson has held senior level Human Resources positions with Hilton Hotels, Axis Global Logistics, Marriott Hotels, and many early stage R&D organizations.
Preferred Mutual Insurance Company [NEW BERLIN, N.Y.] announced the promotion of Jenifer Rinehart to Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Jenifer joined Preferred Mutual in 2017 and has over 20 years in the insurance industry and over 30 years in Human Resources.
SmileDirectClub [NASHVILLE, Tenn.] announced that Cheryl DeSantis, who previously served as Vice President of People & Organization, is now Chief People Officer (CPO).

Elizabeth Baxter
Torchy’s Tacos [AUSTIN, Texas] announced the hiring of Elizabeth Baxter as chief people officer. Baxter joins Torchy’s after spending over seven years in multiple HR roles at Walmart, most recently as senior director, performance management for the enterprise.
Sterling Construction Company, Inc. [THE WOODLANDS, Texas] (NasdaqGS: STRL) announced that Kate Sberna has been appointed to the position of Vice President, Chief Talent Officer. Most recently she was with Aggreko where she held the position of Global Director of Learning & Talent. Kate’s 11 year career with Aggreko also included roles as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the Aggreko’s Rental Solutions business, and The Americas division. Prior to this, Kate was Vice President of Human Resources for Corrpro Companies. Additionally, the Company has appointed Craig Allen, previously Sterling’s Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer since 2013, to the position of Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance & Administration Officer.
Pacific Western Bank [BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.] announced that Rebecca Cordes has been hired as Executive Vice President, Human Resources. Prior to joining, Ms. Cordes served as the Executive Vice President, Director of Support Services at First Western Trust Bank, principal banking subsidiary of First Western Financial, Inc. During her tenure with First Western Financial Inc., she also served as the Director of Human Capital and as Senior Operations Officer for First Western Capital Management.
BetterCloud [NEW YORK] announced it has expanded its executive team with the appointment of Marjorie Ajero as Chief People Officer. Previously, she served as Vice President of Human Resources at Group Nine Media. Prior to Group Nine Media, Ajero worked at Thrillist Media Group. Before that, she worked at Everyday Health where she helped build the HR team and worked on several M&A transactions.