Sweetgreen hires Starbucks vet as chief people officer

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Name: Lauren Crowley

New title: Chief people officer, Sweetgreen

Previous title: Senior vice president of human resources, OC Sports & Entertainment

Lauren Crowley, Sweetgreen’s chief people officer

Courtesy of Sweetgreen

Lauren Crowley has over 20 years of experience with human resources functions across consumer and technology brands, including Expedia Group, Starbucks, Whole Foods Market and Dell. She will begin her new role on Oct. 26 and report to Jonathan Neman, co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen, according to a press release. 

Crowley most recently worked at OC Sports & Entertainment for over a year, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also spent more than six years at Expedia Group in multiple human resources positions. During that time, she oversaw enterprise talent programs that supported 16,500 employees across 56 countries, according to the press release. 

Crowley also spent more than six years at Starbucks and rose to the post of director, partner resources. In that role, she had responsibility for “U.S. retail HR operations supporting more than 200,000 partners across more than 15,000 stores,” per the press release. 

“Lauren brings the exact blend of strategic vision, operational rigor and people-first leadership that [S]weetgreen needs at this stage of our journey,” Neman said in a statement. “She has a deep understanding of how to build strong cultures and people organizations at scale.”

Crowley succeeds Adrienne Gemperle, who served as chief people officer for over six years, according to her LinkedIn profile. Gemperle will transition out of her role, but work alongside Crowley through the end of the year, according to the press release. 

“[Gemperle] helped build and scale our people organization, and her impact can be seen across our culture, our leadership team and our restaurants,” Neman said.

Crowley will join Sweetgreen amid an ongoing turnaround effort that was launched last year after the company faced steep slides in same-store sales. The chain’s Sweet Growth plan focuses on operational excellence, brand relevance, food quality and personalized digital experiences. 

The plan also includes investing in regional and restaurant-level management and training.

“We redesigned our training programs for head coaches, kitchen leads and core team members with a sharper focus on hospitality, throughput, and food quality,” Neman said during an August earnings call. “This is expected to further strengthen our teams, reduce turnover, and deepen our bench of leaders. Together, we believe we have the leadership and tools that get us back to sustainable transaction growth and a stronger, more profitable business.”