OVERVIEW

Kerry Whorton Cooper is a director and experienced consumer, retail, and energy executive. In addition to her work as an ExCo mentor, Cooper serves on the board of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), amongst others. As former CEO of Choose Energy and multiple-time COO and CMO at companies such as Rothy’s, ModCloth, and Walmart.com, Cooper has a successful track record of building and growing businesses and teams and developing strong cultures. She was recognized by the National Retail Foundation as one of the 5 People Shaping Retail in 2020.

CAREER HISTORY

Cooper’s board experience ranges from Series A startups to Fortune 500 companies. Currently, she serves on the board of PG&E on both the finance and comp committees. She also serves on the boards of Upstart, an AI-based lending platform (NASDAQ: UPST), chairing the comp committee), Mozilla Corporation, Fictiv, and Gradient Comfort. Cooper is also a Venture Advisor at Acrew Capital, an early-stage VC firm.

Previously, Cooper served on the boards of BevMo! (sold to GoPuff in 2020), Choose Energy (sold to Red Ventures in 2017), Weddington Way (sold to GAP in 2017), and Wirecutter (NY Times) Advisory Board.

As an operator, Cooper was President and COO of Rothy’s, leading marketing, merchandising and operations at the popular San Francisco-based company, manufacturing bags and shoes from recycled materials. Previously, Cooper was CEO of Choose Energy, a Kleiner Perkins-backed energy marketplace. She led through the company’s acquisition by Red Ventures in early 2017.

As COO and CMO of e-tailer ModCloth, Cooper helped scale the business to more than triple its size, leading marketing, merchandising, supply chain, customer care, and fulfillment split across three offices (SF, Pittsburgh, and LA). During her tenure, ModCloth was named #19 of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. She also helped raise $25M in venture capital for the company’s Series C.

Cooper previously served as CMO and VP of Global ECommerce at Walmart.com. Whilst there, she ran strategy and business development where she launched Marketplace (the ability for 3rd party sellers to sell on Walmart.com) and Pick up Today (allowing customers to buy online and pick up in-store). Her scope increased to encompass marketing and further expanded to global e-commerce, working with ASDA (UK), Walmart China, Walmart Japan (Seiyu), and others.

As SVP of Retail and Planning for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss, she launched e-commerce for the brand and expanded her scope to running retail. Cooper began her career at McKinsey & Co, where she focused on high tech and oil and gas.

PERSONAL

Cooper is an active angel investor with ~20 angel investments. She was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School for many years. Cooper holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities, including rowing and hiking, and is an avid reader and wine country aficionado. Cooper lives in San Francisco with her husband and two dogs.