Webinar: Community Spirit: A New Inclusive Era in Women’s Running by Fairchild Media Group

About This Webinar

As running surges in popularity, the women’s business is a big opportunity. In this special conversation, FN brings together top female leaders to talk about how diversity and inclusion is reshaping the market.

Topics will include:

·How brands and retailers are shaking up their own ranks to include more women and women of color in their top leadership ranks

·How a diverse group of female runners are banding together to support and mentor each other

·How brands will continue to ignite excitement around the category in a post-pandemic world

·How virtual marathons and other new ideas have taken shape during a time of change and challenge

Presenters

Raji Behal

Head of Merchant Success, Klarna

Raji is Head of Merchant Success at Klarna, one of the most highly valued private fintechs in the world. She joined in July 2020 and currently leads one of the Merchant Success teams in the US focused on supporting and delivering high-growth solutions for 70 enterprise merchants such as Macy’s, Foot Locker, & LVMH.

Raji Behal is an innovative, entrepreneurial and creative executive with 13+ years of experience across strategic partnerships, business development omni-channel merchandising, digital/e-commerce, marketing, and P&L management. She began her career at Macy’s in the Executive Development Program as an Assistant Buyer in Men’s Casual Shoes. She progressed to various buying roles within Men’s footwear, Buyer of Women’s Junior & Contemporary Shoes and Buyer of Women’s Contemporary Fashion Ready-to-Wear. In 2016, she became the Vice President of the Leased Division where she managed Macy’s largest partnerships with brands such as FinishLine, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and others.

Raji received a BBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University where she studied Marketing and Organization & Management. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, she now resides in Brooklyn with her family.

Raji joined the Two Ten Associate Board of Directors in 2017. Raji was also featured in Footwear News’s inaugural 40 Shoe Executives Under 40 Revolutionizing the Business in 2018. In March of 2021, Raji was selected as a 2021 Amazing Women in eCommerce by Yotpo.

Anne Cavassa

President, Saucony

Anne Cavassa is President of Saucony, a division of Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW), and a leading global performance running lifestyle brand. Founded in 1898, Saucony exists to empower the human spirit, with every stride, on every run, and in every community. While Saucony, one of most innovative brands in the Wolverine portfolio, continues to win industry awards for its performance running line of road, trail, and competitive footwear, the brand’s sport lifestyle and Originals offerings continue to expand, further resonating with active consumers worldwide.

With more than 20 years of experience in global brand building, Cavassa is a true visionary who drives brand growth through relentless consumer focus, compelling storytelling, and a commitment to marketing and product innovation. Passionate about the goodness that running brings to the world, Cavassa is a significant and authentic voice in the running community, committed to the people and partnerships that drive and elevate the industry. The brand’s call to action, Run for Good, is Saucony’s invitation to people everywhere to experience the transformative power of running. Cavassa helps bring this ethos to life in her role as President of the Saucony Run for Good Foundation, established in 2006 to help combat childhood obesity by providing financial support to community-based youth running programs.

Prior to Saucony, Cavassa served as Chief Customer Experience Officer and Senior Vice President of Marketing and Apparel for the Brooks Running Company. Prior to her position at Brooks, Anne held various leadership roles with The Timberland Company; Nike; Ibex Outdoor Clothing; Eastern Mountain Sports; and Reebok International, among others.

Cavassa earned a B.A. degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount University. When she’s not leading brands, Cavassa is a marathoner and an Ironman finisher. Cavassa lives in Lincoln, MA with her husband Bob and two young children.

Shanna Burnette

Community and Partnerships Manager, Altra

Shanna Burnette is the Community and Partnerships manager where she manages partnerships, advocacy, communications, I&D and elite athletes. She is also responsible for social media, influencers, ambassadors and events. Shanna comes to Altra with over ten years of marketing expertise. Previously, Shanna co-founded the marketing agency ModCraft and led media and communications for Oiselle, Nuun, Soleus Running, Addaday, Destination Races, RunGum, BlueStar Press, LifeTime Fitness amongst others. Shanna was also the agent to Kara Goucher for six years and helped change the status quo in athletic contracts for women maternity rights through an exposé with the New York Times in #dreammaternity. Shanna also co-founded the 501c-3 non-profit Clean Sport Collective which celebrates and creates awareness for clean sport, which has registered over 5,000 individuals and organization members including 50 brands. Shanna has a love and passion for running that started at ten years old. She won 4 state championships in high school and was recruited to run competitively for the University of Colorado where she earned her bachelors degree. From there, she moved to Portland, Oregon where she earned her MBA with a dual concentration in marketing and entrepreneurship. She lives outside Boulder, Colorado with her husband and three kids.

Peter Verry

Senior News and Features Editor, Athletic and Outdoor, FN

Peter Verry is FN’s senior news and features, athletic and outdoor editor, and has immersed himself in two of the footwear industry’s largest and most influential markets for more than five years. Since March 2015, he has covered the companies, executives, celebrities, products and trends that have defined the categories. Prior to joining FN, he held editor roles for leading community news online newspaper Patch and contributed feature stories to leading lifestyle publications including Urban Ink Magazine and Tattoo Magazine. He is a Hofstra University graduate and lifelong Long Island, New York resident.