Board of Directors

Mr. Bickley has served as Chairman of the Board since June 2025. Mr. Bickley served as a key architect and leader at Tapestry, Inc. (formerly, Coach, Inc.), overseeing the company’s global expansion and growing Coach’s international sales from less than $20 million to more than $2 billion. As President of the International Group for Coach, and President of Global Business Development for all Tapestry brands, Mr. Bickley established an exceptional track record in building and revitalizing brands, developing omni-channel businesses, and managing and integrating a global multi-brand portfolio. Mr. Bickley currently serves as an independent director and member of the Audit Committee and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee on the Boards of Directors at Crocs, Inc., and as an independent director on the Board at Brilliant Earth, where he chairs the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee. Previously, he served as an independent director on the Board at Natura & Co., where he served on the Strategy Committee. 
 
Mr. Bickley has extensive omni-channel retail experience in handbag and accessories. He provides insight in overseeing brand expansion, driving sales growth, building and revitalizing existing brands, developing omnichannel businesses, and integrating multi-brand portfolios as the Company continues to execute its long-term strategic plan.   
 

Ms. Baekgaard co-founded Vera Bradley in 1982 and served as Co-President from 1982 through June 2010. In May 2010, she was appointed Chief Creative Officer and served in that post through August 2017. She still serves as an active brand ambassador with the Company. She also currently serves as a board member of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center Development Board and the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.

As Co-Founder of Vera Bradley, Ms. Baekgaard serves a key leadership role on our Board of Directors and provides the Board with a broad array of institutional knowledge and historical perspective. Since our founding, Ms. Baekgaard has provided leadership and strategic direction in our brand’s development by providing creative vision to areas such as marketing, product design, assortment planning and the design and visual merchandising of our stores.

Mr. Hall is the President of Green Gables Partners, a private investment firm that he founded in 2010. Prior to founding Green Gables, he started Andesite Holdings, a private equity firm, where he served as principal from 2007 to 2014. Mr. Hall served as an Executive Director for UBS Financial Services from 2000 to 2007.  Mr. Hall serves as a director of FlyLow Gear Co., a privately-held manufacturer of outerwear; a director of Glade Optics, a privately-held retailer of ski goggles and casual apparel and accessories; and Co-Chair of the U.S. Biathlon Association.

Mr. Hall provides our Board of Directors with insight and perspective on general strategic and financial matters stemming from his extensive experience in investment banking, investment management, financial planning and private placements.

Since April 2019, Ms. Cashman has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cashman Restaurant & Retail Consulting. Ms. Cashman’s prior experience includes serving as Chief Financial Officer of several restaurant companies including Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Inc., Eddie V’s Restaurants, Inc., and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, as well as serving as President of Guy and Larry Restaurants, Inc.  Ms. Cashman serves as a director and Chair of the Audit Committee for publicly-held Basset Furniture Industries, Inc. and as a director and Chair of the Audit Committee for privately-held Munchkin, Inc., an infant and toddler lifestyle brand.

Ms. Cashman brings to the Board of Directors particular knowledge and experience in finance, accounting, tax, and capital structure, as well as strategic planning, real estate strategy and selection, operations, and incentive compensation plan development.
 

Mr. Meslow served as CEO of L Brands and Bath and Body Works. Prior to becoming CEO, Mr. Meslow held the role of COO at Bath & Body Works, leading several functional areas of the business, including finance, merchandise planning, store operations and the direct channel. He joined L Brands in 2003, working in roles at Victoria’s Secret and the corporate group before moving to Bath & Body Works in 2005 as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to joining L Brands, Mr. Meslow held senior leadership positions at Banana Republic and Ann Taylor.

Mr. Meslow has deep capabilities in developing retail omni-channel experience, as well as e-commerce, marketing, and strategic planning. He provides insight and counsel on a variety of issues as the Company continues to pursue our long-term strategic plan, which includes elevating our digital-first strategy and our marketing efforts.

From October 2018 until March 2022, Ms. Rodriguez served as President of Entertainment for Univision Communications, Inc., an American Spanish-language television network, and assumed the additional role of Chief Brand Officer from July 2021 through March 2022.  Ms. Rodriguez began her 20+-plus year career in media as Vice President and Station Manager for Univision Puerto Rico.  From there, she successfully progressed through the organization in roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President and Special Assistant to the President for Univision Networks, Inc.; Senior Vice President, Univision Cable Networks; Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Univision; and Chief Operating Officer, Univision Networks, a post she held from January 2018 through December 2020.  Ms. Rodriguez currently serves as a member of the board for public company off-price retailer Burlington Stores, Inc.  
 
Ms. Rodriguez brings particular knowledge and experience in business strategy; operations; media and brand marketing; consumer insights; and creating, transforming, leading, and motivating high-performing, diverse, purpose-driven organizations. She provides insight and counsel on a variety of issues as the Company continues to execute our long-term strategic plan, which includes elevating our digital-first strategy and our marketing efforts.
 

Ms. Tharp served as Vice President, Retail and Consumer, for Google Cloud, a global cloud provider, from August 2019 to March 2023, when she was named to her current post at Google Cloud of Vice President, Global Strategic Industries. In her current role she is responsible for all industries including retail, consumer goods, media and entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and telecommunications. Between October 2016 and July 2019, she was Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer of luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group and served as Interim Neiman Marcus Brand President from January 2019 until July 2019. Neiman Marcus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020. From June 2013 until September 2016, Ms. Tharp served as Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of eCommerce for Fossil Group, a multi-brand watch and accessories business. Prior to that, she held various management positions with Travelocity and Dean Foods.  Ms. Tharp is a member of the board of privately-held premier off-price ecommerce company, Rue Gilt Groupe, Inc., and serves on the board of privately-held, digitally-native luxury company Moda Operandi.  She has also served on the board of The National Retail Federation (NRF) since 2023.

Ms. Tharp has extensive omni-channel retail experience, including in the handbag and accessories categories; a track record of growth and profit performance improvement; and expertise in e-commerce, marketing with vertically integrated consumer brands, brand management, digital fluency, social media, customer insights, analytics, customer strategy, and machine learning/Artificial Intelligence (AI), and generative AI.
 

Mr. Brockman serves as a Senior Advisor to PJT Partners, a leading independent investment bank, and previously was a Partner and in the firm’s technology strategic advisory group in San Francisco. Mr. Brockman has been at the firm since its inception when it was created in a spin-off transaction from Blackstone in 2015. Prior to the spin-off, Mr. Brockman was a part of Blackstone’s strategic advisory group and served on the firm’s Innovations Investment Committee. Mr. Brockman has a wealth of experience as an investment banker having also served as the co-head of West Coast Technology Investment Banking for Citigroup and prior to that was a Vice President with Goldman Sachs’ TMT investment banking group in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

Mr. Brockman brings extensive experience advising senior management teams, Board of Directors, and investors on strategic decision-making across all stages and cycles of growth and value creation for companies.