Emilee De Martino has been named as The Kroger Co.’s EVP and chief people officer, succeeding Tim Massa, who recently announced his retirement.
De Martino plans to begin her time at Kroger by engaging with employees in stores, distribution centers, manufacturing facilities and offices across the country.
De Martino joins Kroger from McDonald’s Corporation, where she most recently served as SVP and chief people officer for International Operated Markets. In that role, she led people strategy across 19 countries and a workforce of more than 750,000 employees, working closely with business leaders to drive growth, transformation, and an elevated employee experience.
During her eight years at McDonald’s, she contributed to shaping and embedding the company’s people brand standards and values across the global system and advancing enterprise transformation efforts to fuel sustainable growth. She also fostered a high-performing, people-first culture, contributing to record levels of restaurant crew retention across the International Operated Markets.
“Emilee is a proven leader with a track record of building strong people organizations at scale,” said Kroger CEO Greg Foran. “Her experience leading transformation across one of the world’s largest workforces, combined with her commitment to developing talent, makes her exceptionally well-suited to lead the next chapter of our people work at Kroger.”
Prior to McDonald’s, De Martino served as VP of change and culture at CNA Financial Corporation, where she led organizational transformation initiatives, including multiple system transformations, organization redesign and modernization efforts. Before joining CNA, she worked in management consulting at Accenture and Mercer, advising global organizations on human capital strategy, change management, and large-scale transformation.
“Kroger is one of the most respected companies in America, with a long-standing commitment to its associates and the communities it serves,” De Martino said. “I am honored to join an organization where people are central to the strategy and excited to work with associates across the business to continue building Kroger as an employer of choice.”