Greenhouse Herb Grower Nabs Former Starbucks, Nike Execs to Fill Key Roles
Shenandoah Growers, Inc. has announced the addition of a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to its Executive Leadership Team, continuing a series of recent strategic hires.
Matthew Ryan, former Chief Marketing Officer for Starbucks, Inc., joined Shenandoah Growers as the company’s next Chief Executive Officer. Mike Buckley, most recently Senior Vice President of Business for Postmates, joins as the company’s next Chief Financial Officer.
Executive Officer Timothy Heydon will continue to be fully engaged with the company. Heydon will work directly with the Board of Directors, offering strategic counsel rooted in his decades of leadership shepherding the company from its origins in field agriculture through its evolution to the nation’s leading controlled environment agriculture company.
With experience leading strategy and marketing efforts for high-profile brands, including as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Starbucks and as the head of Brand Management for The Walt Disney Company, Ryan has a keen understanding of what it takes for a company like Shenandoah Growers to achieve scaled topline growth.
In addition to his previous roles, Ryan currently sits on the Board of Directors for Kaiser Permanente. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude.
“[Ryan] is a proven leader and strategist with an impressive track record of building strong, competitively advantaged brands in roles at Starbucks and Disney. As Shenandoah Growers seeks to do the same in produce – scaling across many different crops, sales channels, and geographies – [Ryan’s] leadership will be invaluable,” says Philip Karp, President of Shenandoah Growers.
Buckley brings several decades of experience in financial, operational, and executive roles, guiding both public and private companies through periods of rapid growth and change. Before joining Shenandoah Growers, Buckley served in numerous business and financial executive positions, including at Postmates during its acquisition by Uber and at Nike as CFO of Nike Direct overseeing Nike’s fast-growth direct-to-consumer business.
Buckley was a managing director at Intel Capital, where he headed its consumer investment practice. He graduated from Harvard Business School’s General Management Program and received his Bachelor of Arts in Quantitative Economics from Stanford University.
“[Buckley’s] sharp business acumen and track record of developing and implementing winning growth strategies at consumer brands like Postmates and Nike make him an incredible asset to our fast-growing company,” says Karp. “As we continue to expand, [Buckley] will ensure that we are well-positioned to maintain our current momentum well into the future.”
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