Monro Inc. announced Thursday, Aug. 6 that Brett Ponton has resigned as president and CEO of the company, effective Aug. 19, in order to pursue another opportunity.
Monro said Ponton also resigned as a member of the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. Robert Mellor, chairman of Monro’s board, has been named interim CEO while the company engages with a leading executive search firm to identify a successor, Monro says.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Brett for his leadership and contributions to Monro,” Mellor said. “We have a strong leadership team in place and a solid foundation to drive a scalable platform for long-term sustainable growth. We are confident that our firm commitment to driving the continued execution of our Monro.Forward strategy combined with our solid balance sheet positions us well to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities.”
“I am very proud of the progress Monro has made in its transformational journey and believe our accomplishments have established a strong and durable platform for future growth,” Ponton said. “It has been a pleasure to work with our incredibly talented and collaborative team and board.”
Mellor has been chairman of the board since 2017 and has served on the board since 2010. From March 1997 until January 2010, Mellor was board chair and CEO of Building Materials Holding Corp., a provider of building materials and construction services to professional home builders and contractors, and where he had served as a director since 1991. He also serves as non-executive chairman of the board of Coeur Mining Inc.
In addition, the company also announced Leah C. Johnson has been appointed to its board. Monro said Johnson brings extensive knowledge and deep experience in corporate communications and marketing to the board. She has served as chief communications and marketing officer of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, an internationally renowned performing arts institution, since July 2019. Previously, she served as CEO of LCJ Solutions LLC, a strategic communications consulting firm that she founded in 2009, until July 2019. Before that, Johnson served as senior vice president, global corporate affairs, at Citigroup, Inc. and vice president of global communications at S&P Global Ratings (previously, Standard & Poor’s). She serves on the board of Pluralsight, Inc. and has been appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to the board of trustees of The Trust for Cultural Resources of New York City. She is a founding trustee of Pollyanna, Inc. and serves as a trustee of the Museum of the City of New York and a trustee of New York Public Radio.
