In what will result in a significant executive shift, Target Corp. has announced the retirements of John Mulligan, executive vp and COO, and Laysha Ward, executive vp and chief external engagement officer.
Target also announced that Matt Zabel has been named chief corporate affairs officer, and Kiera Fernandez has been promoted to executive vice president and chief community impact and equity officer, the company stated.
Mulligan will remain in his current role until February 2024, at which time he will transition to a strategic advisor role through February 2025, Target noted, while Ward will transition to a strategic advisor role through April 2024. Target indicated that it would release more information about succession plans regarding Mulligan prior to his official retirement.
Zabel has served as Target executive vice president and general counsel, and, in his new role, he will report to Target CEO Brian Cornell. Fernandez will join Target’s leadership team and report to Zabel, the company maintained. In her new role, she will assume external stakeholder engagement and oversee Target’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and corporate philanthropy efforts.
Mulligan joined Target in 1996 as a financial analyst and won promotion to his current role in 2015. Ward began her career in 1991 as a frontline team member at Marshall Field’s in Chicago and has spent more than two decades leading corporate responsibility and the Target Foundation, according to the company.
