Robert E. Price has served as Interim Chief Executive Officer since February 2023 and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company since its spin-off from Price Enterprises, Inc. in 1997. He served as Executive Chairman from October 2018 to February 2020. Mr. Price has served as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company at various times during the Company’s history, including as Chief Executive Officer from April 2006 until July 2010. Mr. Price was a founder of The Price Company, which operated the Price Club, and served as its Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board of directors from the time of The Price Company’s founding in 1976 until The Price Company’s merger with Costco Wholesale Corp. in 1993. Mr. Price was Chairman of the Board of Price/Costco, Inc. from October 1993 until December 1994 and Chairman of Price Enterprises from July 1994 until September 1997. Mr. Price currently serves as a Manager of The Price Group, LLC and as Chairman of the Board Directors and President of Price Philanthropies Foundation and the Allison and Robert Price Family Foundation. Price Philanthropies is a private family foundation that supports charitable activities in the Company’s markets and San Diego, California. Mr. Price is also President of the Aaron Price Fellows Foundation, the sponsor of the Aaron Price Fellows Program.

Michael L. McCleary has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since April 2020, after serving as Senior Vice President and Interim Chief Financial Officer from December 2019 to March 2020. He joined the Company as Vice President and Corporate Controller in 2003 and was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller. Mr. McCleary has over 35 years of international finance, tax and accounting experience. Mr. McCleary is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to joining PriceSmart, Mr. McCleary worked for 14 years in various international companies based in Madrid, Spain.

John D. Hildebrandt has been President and Chief Operating Officer since December 2022 after serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company from May 2022 to December 2022. He held the position of Executive Vice President and Acting Chief Operating Officer from March 2022 to May 2022 and previously served as Executive Vice President — Operations of the Company from February 2010 to February 2022. Mr. Hildebrandt served as Executive Vice President—Central America and Trinidad Operations from March 2009 through January 2010, as Executive Vice President—Central America Operations from August 2003 until February 2009, as Executive Vice President—Caribbean and Asia Operations from July 2001 until July 2003 and as Senior Vice President of the Company from September 2000 until July 2001. Mr. Hildebrandt previously served as Vice President of the Company from September 1998 until August 2000, overseeing operations in Central America. Mr. Hildebrandt served as the Company’s Country Manager in the Philippines and Panama from August 1997 until August 1998, and as Price Enterprises’ Country Manager in the Philippines and Panama from 1996 until the Company was spun off from Price Enterprises in August 1997. Prior to joining Price Enterprises as Country Manager in 1996, Mr. Hildebrandt was a Senior Operations Manager of Price/Costco from 1994 through 1996, and served in various management roles for The Price Company beginning in 1979.

Paul Kovaleski has been Executive Vice President – Chief Merchandising Officer since January 2024 after serving as Senior Vice President – Merchandising from May 2023 to December 2023.  From 2016 to April 2023, Mr. Kovaleski served as Senior Vice President – Other Business and Wellness.  Mr. Kovaleski previously served as Vice President – Operations in 2016, Country Manager in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica from 2008 to 2013, Warehouse Club Manager in various locations from 2003 to 2008, and a member of the Expansion Team from 1999 to 2003.  Prior to joining PriceSmart as a member of the Operations Support Team in 1997, Mr. Kovaleski served in various roles from Price Club beginning in 1985.

David N. Price has been an employee of the Company since July 2017, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer since August 2023. He also has served as a member of the Board since February 2022. He previously held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Board and the Company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, Robert Price, from December 2022 to July 2023. From August 2021 to December 2022, Mr. Price served the Company as Vice President for Environmental and Social Responsibility and had previously served as the Company’s Vice President for Omnichannel Initiatives and Environmental and Social Responsibility. From August 2018 to August 2020, Mr. Price was Director of Ecommerce. Mr. Price serves as President of the newly established PriceSmart Foundation, a California nonprofit corporation serving as a philanthropic partner to the Company and providing grants to nongovernmental organizations focused on youth development, economic development, and community and environmental resilience in PriceSmart countries. Mr. Price also serves as Vice President of Price Philanthropies Foundation, a private family foundation working to transform the lives of youth and families through grant making and youth programs, and as Chairman of the Board of the Wildcoast Foundation, a binational nonprofit that works on coastal conservation efforts and natural solutions to climate change in Mexico and in California. In addition, Mr. Price serves on the board of the Aaron Price Fellows Foundation and serves on the Director’s Councils of The USC Price School of Public Policy and The Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Mr. Price received a Master of International Affairs from the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy and Management from the University of Southern California.

Wayne Sadin has been Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer since July 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Sadin worked as an independent IT advisor and technology analyst for more than ten years. His clients included the Company from March to June 2023, Acceleration Economy and Cloudwars from October 2018 to June 2023, Via Group Partners from September 2020 to June 2023, Wiginton Fire Systems from August 2019 to March 2020 and Orion Group Holdings from January 2019 to October 2021. Mr. Sadin serves on the Advisory Board for Via Group Partners and for Acceleration Economy, and is a member of the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance, the FBI’s Infragard Program, the Digital Directors Network and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Additionally, Mr. Sadin earned the QTE (Qualified Technology Expert) Director certification from the Digital Directors Institute, is NACD Directorship Certified, and holds the NACD/CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight. Mr. Sadin has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Computer Science from Boston University and a Master of Science degree in Management Science from the University of Texas.

Francisco Velasco has been Executive Vice President - Chief Legal Officer, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer and Secretary of the Company since May 2024.  He served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer and Secretary of the Company from October 2016 to May 2024.  He joined the Company in July 2016 as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Prior to joining PriceSmart, Mr. Velasco served as Division Counsel Latin America for AbbVie Inc., a publicly traded global biopharmaceutical company. Previously, he held in-house legal roles at Abbott Laboratories, Hanes Brands Inc. and Sara Lee Corporation, and he began his career in private practice specializing in the Latin America region. Mr. Velasco serves as a member of the board of the PriceSmart Foundation, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, which serves as the philanthropic partner for the Company, providing resources to organizations and institutions in the Company’s markets that support education, youth development, economic development or community resilience .Mr. Velasco attended law school in Mexico, has a Masters of Law degree from Georgetown University and has an MBA degree from Duke University.

 

Ana Luisa Bianchi has been Executive Vice President – Merchandise Exports and Business to Business since January 2024.  Ms. Bianchi served as Executive Vice President – Chief Merchandising Officer from August 2018 through December 2023 and as Senior Vice President – Merchandising – Latin America Local from October 2016 through July 2018. From 2010 to October 2016, Ms. Bianchi was Vice President – Merchandising, overseeing the local side of the Colombia business. Ms. Bianchi previously served as regional buyer for the Central America operations from 2007 to 2010. From 2005 to 2007, Ms. Bianchi was local buyer for the Guatemala operations. In 2004, Ms. Bianchi was a consultant to PriceSmart’s St. Thomas operations. In 2003, Ms. Bianchi served as Merchandising Director for U.S. food purchases. From 1999 to 2003, Ms. Bianchi served as the food and candy buyer in the Miami corporate office. Ms. Bianchi joined PriceSmart in 1998 as a local buyer for the Guatemala operations. Ms. Bianchi studied law and received a sworn translator recognition in Guatemala.

Rodrigo Calvo has been Executive Vice President – Real Estate and Construction since June 2024 after serving as Executive Vice President – Real Estate from June 2015 to May 2024.  From February 2009 to May 2015, Mr. Calvo served as Senior Vice President of Real Estate after joining PriceSmart in October 2004 as Director of Real Estate. Before coming to the Company, he led Grupo Promerica’s real estate development division. Before that, he worked for McDonald’s Corporation’s real estate area and for CSU (now Walmart Central America) in special projects. This combined background allowed him to develop a deep understanding of the commercial real estate field in Central America and the Dominican Republic. He holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Costa Rica and an MBA from INCAE Business School.

 

Jesus Von Chong has been Executive Vice President – Local/Regional Merchandising since August 2018. He previously served as Executive Vice President – Chief Merchandising Officer from September 2016 through July 2018 and was Executive Vice President – Foods Merchandising from November 2015 through August 2016. Mr. Von Chong served as Senior Vice President of Merchandising for Central America beginning in 2003, added Colombia to his responsibilities in March 2011 and the Caribbean Region in April 2015. He served as a Regional Merchandising Director for Panama, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic from 2000 to 2003. He was first employed by the Company as a buyer in the Company’s operations in Panama in 1996. Mr. Von Chong progressed to head Buyer in 1998, Warehouse Manager for Via Brasil Operations in 1999 and to Panama’s Country Manager in 2000.

Diana Pacheco has been Executive Vice President – Human Resources since September 2023 after serving as Senior Vice President – Human Resources from August 2021 to September 2023.  Prior to joining PriceSmart, Ms. Pacheco served as Chief People Officer for Goddard Enterprises Ltd, a publicly traded Caribbean conglomerate with a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, from January 2019 to August 2021. Previously, Ms. Pacheco held different roles at Baxter International, a publicly traded healthcare company in the United States, where she spent 5 years, her last position being the global HR Head for Research & Development Division & Nutrition Business Unit. Ms. Pacheco has held senior roles at various global organizations in the US as well as in Central and South America with companies such as HSBC, Itau Bank and Linde Group. Ms. Pacheco started her career at Citigroup.  Ms. Pacheco has a master’s degree in financial and commercial law from Universidad de Los Andes Colombia, a master’s degree in labor and social security law from Universidad Javeriana Colombia and has an executive MBA degree from Universidad de Los Andes.  She is also an executive member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and has been a guest lecturer in the MBA and undergraduate Human Resource programs at Lynn University in Florida.

Laura Santana has been Executive Vice President—Information Technology since March 2017. Ms. Santana has served in progressively responsible positions relating to the Company’s IT systems since joining the Company in 1995. Ms. Santana previously worked at The Price Company from 1987 to 1995 in operations and information technology. Ms. Santana is a graduate of the University of San Diego.

Christopher Souhrada has served as Executive Vice President--Club Operations since May 2022 after serving as Acting Senior Vice President--Club Operations from March 2022 to April 2022. From July 2020 to February 2022, he held the position of Senior Vice President--Business Development. He previously served as Senior Vice President--Operations from August 2009 to June 2020, Vice President--Operations from November 2002 to July 2009, Country Manager from September 2000 to October 2002, and Club Manager from May 1999 to August 2000.