Leadership

Jeffrey Stein currently serves as chief executive officer and chief restructuring officer, responsible for driving the organization’s comprehensive business strategy and performance. As founder and managing partner of Stein Advisors LLC, a financial advisory firm that provides financial and operational restructuring consulting, Stein brings decades of experience leading companies through meaningful business transformations. He has held numerous leadership roles, including executive chairman, chief executive officer, and chief restructuring officer, and he has served on several board committees, including finance, audit, corporate governance, and risk management.

Before joining Rite Aid, Stein served as chief executive officer and chief restructuring officer of GWG Holdings, Inc. and as chief restructuring officer of Liberty Steel Group Holdings Pte. Ltd., Whiting Petroleum Corporation, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, LLC, and Westmoreland Coal Company. In addition, he was co-founder and principal of Durham Asset Management LLC, a global, event-driven distressed debt and special situations equity asset management firm, where he was responsible for identifying, evaluating and managing investments. Earlier in his career, he was an assistant vice president in the Capital Preservation & Restructuring Group at Shearson Lehman Brothers.

Stein received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Brandeis University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance and accounting from New York University. He is a certified Turnaround Professional, as designated by the Turnaround Management Association.

Jessica Kazmaier serves as executive vice president, chief human resources officer and chief of staff to the CEO at Rite Aid. She was named chief of staff to Jeffrey S. Stein upon his appointment as CEO and chief restructuring officer in October 2023. In this capacity, Kazmaier integrates workstreams and eliminates siloes within the company, links the leadership team with the broader organization, and helps make strategic decisions that propel the company forward. Additionally, she has held the role of chief human resources officer since March 2019, ensuring Rite Aid’s culture, communications, programs, policies and experiences deliver on the company’s purpose and objectives. She leads all aspects of the people strategy, including associate experience and engagement, talent management, total rewards and labor relations.

Kazmaier joined Rite Aid in 2001 and has held various human resources roles of increasing responsibility, including vice president of total rewards and group vice president of compensation, benefits and HR corporate services. In this role, she focused on the company's pay and incentive strategy, associate health and well-being, enterprisewide human resources policies, tools and compliance, and corporate headquarters talent acquisition and employee relations. Kazmaier previously served as retirement manager at Harsco Corporation, where she managed the company’s 401(k) and pension plans.

Kazmaier earned a dual bachelor’s degree in business administration and psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She also has a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist designation from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans. From 2019-2023 Kazmaier served as President of the Board of Rite Aid Healthy Futures, the company’s affiliated public charity focused on impacting health disparities in underserved and disadvantaged populations.

Matt Schroeder was named executive vice president and chief financial officer in March 2019. He is responsible for managing the company’s financial verticals, including financial planning & analysis, financial reporting, treasury and accounting. He also leads Rite Aid’s store development and procurement functions. In this role, Schroeder guides Rite Aid’s decisions around capital structure and capital allocation, drives alignment of the company’s strategy and key operational initiatives to financial performance, and ensures the company makes efficient decisions around footprint performance and cost management with the goal of maximizing stakeholder value.

Schroeder joined Rite Aid in 2000 as vice president of financial accounting and was promoted to group vice president of strategy, investor relations and treasurer in 2010. In 2017, Schroeder was promoted to senior vice president, chief accounting officer and treasurer. Before joining the company, Schroeder worked for Arthur Andersen LLP, where he held several positions of increasing responsibility, including audit manager and senior manager.

Schroeder holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the board of directors for Whitaker Center for Science and Arts, a not-for profit serving the greater Harrisburg Pennsylvania region.

Thomas J. Sabatino, Jr., joined Rite Aid Corporation as executive vice president and chief legal officer in June 2023, responsible for overseeing the organization’s legal affairs, including enterprise risk management, compliance, regulatory affairs and privacy. His leadership is also instrumental in guiding the company through its major legal and regulatory issues, corporate governance matters and internal and external strategic initiatives.

Sabatino brings four decades of experience navigating complex business needs for several Fortune 500 companies experiencing transformational change. Most recently, he served as executive vice president and general counsel for Tenneco, Inc. Sabatino’s extensive expertise runs deep in the healthcare industry with previous chief legal officer roles at Aetna, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Schering Plough Corp., and Baxter International Inc., where he was pivotal in driving large scale growth and operational effectiveness at each company. Additionally, he also was general counsel at United Airlines and Hertz.

Sabatino currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Humane Society of the United States and the South Florida Wildlife Center. He is Chair Emeritus of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution and serves on the Board of Advisors of the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. Sabatino earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

As a key leader with Rite Aid for more than 20 years, Staniforth currently serves as chief pharmacy officer and leads the company’s pharmacy strategy. She is responsible for overseeing central pharmacy operations, pharmaceutical purchasing, market access strategy and relations, and healthcare analytics. In addition, she leads the clinical team, managing pharmacy growth and clinical programs.

Staniforth’s extensive leadership responsibilities at Rite Aid include her roles as regional pharmacy vice president, division pharmacy vice president and group vice president of pharmacy initiatives and clinical services, and senior vice president, clinical and operational pharmacy services, most recently overseeing pharmacy field operations. In 2014, she was appointed chief operating officer of Health Dialog, a Rite Aid subsidiary and leading provider of population health management solutions, responsible for executing the strategic vision and managing day-to-day operations of the company. Additionally, she led the planning efforts and transaction services agreement for Rite Aid’s asset purchase agreement with Walgreens in 2017.

Before joining Rite Aid, Staniforth was a pharmacist in Johannesburg, South Africa, and later joined Sandoz, overseeing retail sales operations. She earned her Diploma in Pharmacy from Witwatersrand Technikon in Johannesburg, South Africa. Staniforth currently serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS).

Jeanniey Walden was named senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Rite Aid and Thrifty Ice Cream in August 2023. In this capacity, she oversees all marketing operations, including digital, e-commerce, print, creative, customer loyalty and analytics, and Thrifty strategy and growth. An accomplished marketing executive, Walden leads Rite Aid’s strategic marketing, spearheading Rite Aid’s brand evolution and building brand engagement to ensure the company’s brand strategy connects the business with its customers and the communities it serves.

Walden has a proven track record of transforming brands and driving significant business growth through an integrated approach that merges traditional and digital marketing with innovative techniques that drive awareness and deliver results. Her experience spans companies across various industries, including retail, health and wellness consulting services, advertising agencies and FinTech. Before joining Rite Aid, Walden held marketing leadership roles for OgilvyOne Worldwide, Grey Direct, Mercer, DailyPay, Barnes and Noble, and JCPenney.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a Master of Arts in teaching from the University of Pittsburgh.

Christine Rose was named senior vice president and chief information officer for Rite Aid in August 2023 after serving as senior vice president, enterprise technology solutions for several years. In her current role, Rose oversees technology services within the company, including technical infrastructure and digital engineering. Her leadership is also instrumental in Rite Aid’s supply chain and back-office modernization strategies to ensure best practices solutions, as well as digital and retail pharmacy management systems to evolve and respond to ever-changing market demands.

Rose is a transformational technologist with more than two decades of experience in fostering innovation leading to high-performance, agile enterprise teams. Her experience includes leading large-scale data and technology transformations to drive speed, cost and quality improvements. Before joining Rite Aid, she implemented enterprise-class e-commerce and digital consumer solutions, as well as brick-and-mortar store solutions for major retailers, including Kendra Scott, Sephora, Ross Dress for Less and Finisar.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications from San Francisco State University, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in technology management from the University of Phoenix.

Pamela Kohn was appointed senior vice president and chief merchandising officer at Rite Aid in March 2023. In this role, Kohn oversees merchandising and category management functions across the enterprise. She is responsible for the front-end sales and margin performance of the company by delivering relevant product assortment, price, promotions, and customer experience in our stores. Kohn collaborates closely with store operations, pharmacy, marketing and e-commerce to bring innovative products and dynamic customer solutions to our shelves.

Kohn is a global corporate leader who has transformed multi-billion-dollar corporations to deliver improved profits, revenue growth and stakeholder value. Most recently, Kohn served as chief merchandising officer for Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc., and chief merchandising and marketing officer for Family Dollar, a division of Dollar Tree, Inc., with fiscal responsibility of more than $11 billion in revenue. Kohn also held roles in merchandising leadership with renowned companies, including Walmart and Marshall Field’s Department Stores.

Kohn currently serves on the board of Americold Realty Trust, Inc. and the advisory board of Pairwise. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Northwestern University.

William (Bill) Miller currently serves as senior vice president and chief of store operations, responsible for leading the company’s retail strategy and operations and overseeing field operations. He previously served as senior vice president of central operations for Rite Aid, where he led significant improvements in the company’s store workforce model, promoting engaged employees and driving successful processes. Miller has more than 30 years of experience in central and field operations in the retail, healthcare and pharmacy space.

Responsible for creating Rite Aid’s best-in-class retail experience, Miller leads efforts around supply chain, asset protection, workforce planning and analysis, operational strategy, facilities maintenance and other initiatives that help teams execute critical improvements across Rite Aid’s retail store footprint. His span of accountability and oversight includes key strategies that ensure inventory accuracy and optimization to support the company’s business strategy, thoughtfully use appropriate resources and effectively meet the needs of retail customers across our markets. Before joining Rite Aid, Miller served as group vice president for Walgreens/WBA, where he led an enterprisewide organization restructure to optimize performance and fuel growth strategies.

He earned a master’s degree in management from Bellevue University, Nebraska, and holds a bachelor’s degree in management and marketing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Miller serves on the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Retail Advisory Board and on the Board of Rite Aid Healthy Futures, the company’s affiliated public charity focused on impacting health disparities in underserved and disadvantaged populations.