Avon appoints Kay Nemoto as Chief Strategy and HR Officer to drive transformation

Avon has appointed Kay Nemoto as Senior Vice President Chief Strategy and HR Officer.  In this new role Kay will lead the change management and cultural overhaul underpinning Avon’s transformation.

Kay - a seasoned turnaround specialist - has already been playing an integral role in Avon’s transformation while on secondment from Avon’s strategic partners Cerberus Operations & Advisory Company (COAC).  She’s been heavily involved in building the strategy and plans to ‘Open Up’ Avon to growth, has sound knowledge of all areas of the business and a passion for the business model – particularly the power and potential of Avon’s Beauty Entrepreneurs worldwide.  

Kay’s new role will be focused on enabling Avon to be simpler and leaner, to drive accountability and to accelerate execution of Avon’s turnaround through its people.  She will lead the cultural change management needed to underpin Avon’s transformation, building an organisation that is effective and high performing.

Kay will join Avon’s Executive Committee and report to CEO Jan Zijderveld. He said:

“I’m delighted to be securing talent of Kay’s calibre to power our transformation.  She has high personal accountability and drive, and a deep understanding of the role that culture plays in delivering our strategy to Open Up Avon. What’s more, she is obsessive about putting the needs of our millions of Beauty Entrepreneurs at the forefront of decisions and actions.  I’m excited to see what she can do in this new role as we open up Avon to future growth.”

As Operating Executive at COAC, Kay has successfully led teams supporting turnarounds at multiple companies, always working closely with the management and HR teams. She brings over 23 years of experience in consultancy and advisory roles including with Ernst & Young and AlixPartners. 

Kay said: “This is an amazing opportunity to be part of the team that drives Avon’s transformation and opens up value and growth.  Since working with Avon I’ve been astounded by the power of the iconic brand, the potential of the business model and the fantastic opportunity we have to leverage Avon’s associates across the world to deliver change and future success.  We’ll continue to inject and leverage talent and will prioritise implementation of culture and change management to deliver growth through making our Representatives successful.  When she succeeds, we succeed.”