Mr. Kyees has been a director since May 3, 2010 and was appointed Chairman of the Board on January 24, 2019.  From February 2, 2017 through January 24, 2019, Mr. Kyees served as the Company's Lead Independent Director.  From February 2, 2014 until May 31, 2014, Mr. Kyees served as Interim Financial Officer of the Company. In 2010, Mr. Kyees retired as the Chief Investor Relations Officer from Urban Outfitters, Inc., after serving as Chief Financial Officer from 2003 to 2010. Prior to that, from 2002 to 2003, Mr. Kyees was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of bebe Stores, Inc. Mr. Kyees is the lead independent director of the Board of Directors of Vera Bradley, Inc., a publicly-traded company, and serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee.  Mr. Kyees is also a director and chairman of the Audit Committee of Arhaus Furniture, a privately-held retailer. Mr. Kyees previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Hot Topic, Inc., a publicly-traded company, and was a member of the Audit Committee and as a director and member of the Audit Committee of Teavana, a publicly-traded company.  Mr. Kyees previously served as a director and a member of the Audit Committee of Rackwise, Inc., a publicly-traded company.

Mr. Kyees brings to the Board extensive executive level retail experience having served as Chief Financial Officer for several prominent retailers.  His insight with respect to merchandising, operational activities and finance is an asset to our Board. Institutional Investor magazine selected Mr. Kyees as a top specialty retail chief financial officer on five separate occasions, evidencing his strong skills in corporate finance, strategic and accounting matters.

Mr. Boyle has been a director since August 3, 2017.  Since December 2017, Mr. Boyle has been the co-president of direct to consumer/omni channel for Fanatics, Inc., a market leader for officially licensed sports merchandise, and originally joined the company as president of merchandising.  Prior to that, from February 2005 to June 2012, Mr. Boyle was the executive vice president, general merchandise manager of women’s apparel, intimate, cosmetics and accessories for Kohl’s Corporation. From October 2003 to February 2005, he served as senior vice president, divisional merchandise manager of women’s apparel for Kohl’s Corporation, vice president of junior sportswear from July 2000 to October 2003 and vice president of planning/allocation for women's apparel from December 1999 to July 2000.  From June 1990 to December 1999, Mr. Boyle held various merchandise positions, including divisional merchandise manager of women’s at May Company.  Mr. Boyle brings to the board extensive experience in merchandising, brand management and omni-channel leadership

Harvey Kanter is the President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company.  Harvey joined the Company on February 19, 2019, in a transition role as Advisor to the Acting CEO and assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company on April 1, 2019. Harvey has over 30 years of business experience, with an extensive background in the retail industry having served from March 2012 until June 2017 as the president and chief executive officer of Blue Nile, Inc., a leading online retailer of high-quality diamonds and fine jewelry. Since March 2012, Harvey has also served as a member of the board of directors of Blue Nile, Inc. and, since January 2014, he has served as its chairman.  From January 2009 to March 2012, Harvey was the chief executive officer and president of Moosejaw Mountaineering and Backcountry Travel, Inc., a leading multi-channel retailer of premium outdoor apparel and gear.  From April 2003 to June 2008, Harvey served in various executive positions at Michaels Stores, Inc. Harvey served as a director and a member of the compensation committee of Potbelly Corporation, a publicly-traded company from August 2015 until May 2019. He is also a brand ambassador for the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Institute and is an advisory board member to the Seattle University Executive MBA Program. Harvey received his M.B.A. in Marketing from Babson College and his undergraduate degree with a B.S. in Marketing from Arizona State University.

Mr. Conacher was appointed a director in June 2018. From January 2011 to June 2018, Mr. Conacher was a senior advisor for Altamont Capital Partners LLC (“ACP”), a private equity firm.  Mr. Conacher left ACP on June 30, 2018 to pursue the development of a new venture capital fund, Next Ventures, GP.  Mr. Conacher became managing partner of Next Ventures, GP in August 2018. Prior to joining ACP, from April 2008 until July 2010, Mr. Conacher was the president and chief operating officer of Thomas Weisel Partners, an investment bank. Additionally, Mr. Conacher served as the chairman of Wunderlich Securities, an investee company of ACP, from December 2013 until July 2017.  He currently is a member of the board of directors of Dakine, a designer and manufacturer of sportswear and sports equipment for the snowboard, ski, surf, skate, bike, kite, and wind communities, and Mervin Manufacturing, a leading designer and manufacturer of snow boards and other board sports equipment.  Mr. Conacher brings extensive financial and operational experience to the Board.

Mr. Holtzman has been involved in the retail business for over 35 years. Mr. Holtzman served as our Executive Chairman of the Board from August 2014 until January 2019. From April 2000 through August 2014, Mr. Holtzman was a director and Chairman of the Board. For many years, he has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Jewelcor, Incorporated, a former New York Stock Exchange listed company that operated a chain of retail stores. From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Holtzman was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Gruen Marketing Corporation, an American Stock Exchange listed company involved in the nationwide distribution of watches. For at least the last five years, Mr. Holtzman has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jewelcor Management, Inc., a company primarily involved in investment and management services.  Mr. Holtzman is the Chief Executive Officer and an indirect owner of C.D. Peacock, Inc., a Chicago, Illinois retail jewelry establishment, and is a managing member of Luxury Swiss, LLC,a retail Rolex watch establishment.  Mr. Holtzman was formerly an officer of Homeclick, LLC, a privately held internet retailer specializing in luxury brands for the home. Mr. Holtzman is a successful entrepreneur with extensive experience working with public companies and provides valuable insight to the Board with respect to strategic planning.

Mr. Mesdag is the Managing Partner of Red Mountain Capital Partners LLC, the investment adviser for Red Mountain Partners, L.P. The Los Angeles-based fund invests in small cap public companies, and adds value through its constructive engagement with management teams and boards.

Prior to founding Red Mountain in 2005, Mesdag spent 21 years with Goldman Sachs. He became a general partner of the firm in 1990 and worked in New York, London, Frankfurt and Los Angeles in the fixed income and investment banking divisions. Prior to Goldman Sachs, he was a securities lawyer with Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll in Philadelphia. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University in 1974 and his J.D. from the Cornell Law School in 1978.

Mesdag serves on the board of Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc., a publicly-traded company. He previously served on the boards of Encore Capital Group, Inc., 3i Group plc, Nature's Sunshine Products, Yuma Energy, Inc., Cost Plus, Inc. and Skandia Group AB.

Having had an extensive career in international investment banking and finance, Mr. Mesdag brings to the Board significant knowledge and experience related to business and financial issues and corporate governance.

Mr. Mooney has been a director since July 31, 2006.  Mr. Mooney was a co-founder of Crystal Financial LLC and served as its CEO from April 2010 until his retirement in December 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Mooney was the President of Bank of America Retail Finance Group and managing partner of Back Bay Capital, which Mr. Mooney co-founded and both of which were formerly Bank of Boston businesses.

Mr. Mooney provides the Board with valuable insight with respect to his extensive experience as a lender in the retail industry. The Board has determined that based on Mr. Mooney's extensive knowledge and experience in finance qualifies Mr. Mooney as an "audit committee financial expert."

Mitchell S. Presser has been a director since May 1, 2007.  In July 2014, Mr. Presser joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as a partner and is the head of U.S. Global Transactions. From January 2014 until July 2014, Mr. Presser was a senior advisor to Paine & Partners, LLC, a private equity firm.  From November 2006 to December 2013, Mr. Presser was a founding partner of Paine & Partners, LLC.  Prior to that, Mr. Presser was a partner with the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in mergers & acquisitions. 

Mr. Presser serves as a director on the boards of several privately-held companies.  Mr. Presser’s extensive experience in private equity and strategic planning provides valuable insight to the Board.

Ms. Ross was elected a director of the Company on January 31, 2013. In May 2014, Ms. Ross joined Google X as head of Glass and is currently Vice President, Design for Hardware Products . From July 2011 until April 2014, Ms. Ross was the Chief Marketing Officer of Art.com from where she oversaw the company's marketing, branding, merchandising and user-experience functions. Prior to Art.com, from June 2008 to June 2011, Ms. Ross was EVP of Marketing for the Gap brand, and also acted as the Creative Catalyst for all brands within Gap, Inc. Ms. Ross also has held senior creative and product design positions at Disney Stores North America, Mattel, Calvin Klein, Coach, Liz Claiborne, Swatch Watch and Avon. Chosen by Fast Company and BusinessWeek as the new face of leadership, Ross was a contributing author to "The Change Champions Field Guide" and "Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organizational Change." She has also served on Proctor and Gamble's design board since its inception.

With her industry insight and marketing expertise, Ms. Ross provides a valuable perspective to the Board as we continue to build our Destination XL brand.