MIAMI, Oct. 20, 2011 – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced today that Miami’s Susan D. Kronick, one of the nation’s foremost business leaders and a former vice chairman of Macy’s, Inc., will join its board of trustees.
A Miami resident, Kronick was responsible for overseeing 850 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores, led one of the largest mergers in retail history and was instrumental in creating Macy’s as a national brand. She retired in 2010, and continues her community service work.
“Everyone talks about market and customer focus,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation president and CEO. “Sue Kronick has actually done it for decades as one of the nation’s leading retailers. She has also shown an extraordinary commitment to Miami and community engagement. The combination will greatly enhance Knight Foundation’s focus on community and sound management choices.”
“Given our rapidly changing world, I am particularly excited about joining Knight Foundation,” Kronick said, “because its mission of developing informed and engaged communities both locally and nationally is a profound platform for strengthening our democracy.”
Knight Foundation is dedicated to the ideal that democracies thrive when communities are informed and engaged. The foundation supports transformational ideas that engage communities, promote quality journalism and media innovation, and foster the arts.
About Kronick
As vice chair at Macy’s Inc., Kronick led the integration of Macy’s and May Co. operations following Macy’s $14 billion acquisition of May in 2005, the largest retail merger in the nation. Before retiring in 2010, she also played a leadership role in establishing Macy’s new national corporate structure and local merchandising strategy.
Kronick’s community service has included serving on the boards of the United Way, YMCA, and Exodus Cities in Schools, a program for at risk children. She has received numerous industry honors including the Parson’s School of Design Award and the American Jewish Committee’s Human Relations Award. Kronick also has been involved in women’s health issues initiating Macy’s first mammogram centers as early as 1996. In Miami, she co-chaired the 2011 opening gala of the New World Symphony.
Kronick, a former director of Pepsi Bottling Group, currently serves as a director of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
Miami Focus
Since 1954, Knight Foundation has invested $221.6 million in the vitality of Miami, a focus of the foundation’s community engagement work.
Knight Foundation is dedicated to the ideal that democracies thrive when communities are informed and engaged. The foundation supports transformational ideas that engage communities, promote quality journalism and media innovation, and foster the arts.
In Knight’s hometown, the foundation seeks to foster an informed and engaged region by bringing South Floridians together through the arts and educational opportunities.
Through the Knight Arts Challenge, a communitywide contest, the foundation asks all residents for their best ideas for the arts. In four years, the challenge has received more than 5,000 applications. Funds have helped nurture individual artists and organizations, aided cultural groups in adapting to changing trends and technologies and amplified cultural offerings.
In education, the foundation strives to help inform and educate South Florida’s next generation of leaders. To do that, Knight Foundation has focused on closing the achievement gap between middle- and low-income kids, with a combination of metric-based intervention programs focused on one-school feeder pattern.
Read more about Knight Foundation’s work in Miami at www.knightfoundation.org/miami.
Photo available on request: [email protected].
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.
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Contacts:
Marc Fest, Vice President/Communications, 305-908-2677, [email protected]