Cynthia Harriss is an American

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

and

tourism industry Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

executive, notable for her senior roles with Gap Inc. and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

Biography

Early life and career

Harriss was born in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and received a bachelor's degree from St. Louis University in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Harriss then spent 19 years in a variety of marketing and operations roles at the Paul Harris Stores, a women's clothing chain.

The Walt Disney Company

Harriss joined the Walt Disney Company in 1992 and held a variety of senior positions, including senior vice president of park operations at Disneyland, and senior vice president of stores for the

Disney Store The Disney Store is a chain of specialty stores created on March 28, 1987, and sells only Disney-related items, many of them exclusive, under its own name and Disney Outlet. It is a business unit of the Disney Experiences division of The Walt Disn ...

chain. Harriss also served as president of

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Experiences division and is home to two theme parks (Disneyland and Dis ...

, where she managed the

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

and Disney California Adventure Park theme parks, as well as the resort's hotels and retail operations. In 2000, Harriss received the Tree of Life Award for outstanding

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

from the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

Gap Inc.

From February 2004 until May 2005, Harriss served as president of Gap Inc.'s Outlet division. In this role, Harriss oversaw Gap Inc.'s three outlet chains: Banana Republic Factory Stores, Gap Outlet and

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay, San Francisco, Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of t ...

Outlet. Harriss was then appointed president of Gap Inc.'s namesake chain of apparel stores, overseeing the Gap brand's operations, including its adult line as well as the brand's GapKids, babyGap and gapbody businesses. She resigned from this position in February 2007. Marka Hansen, former president of Gap Inc.'s

Banana Republic In political science, the term ''banana republic'' describes a politically and economically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resource.A banana republic is a country with an economy of state capitalism, where th ...

brand, succeeded Harriss as president.Company press release, 01 February 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harriss, Cynthia Living people 21st-century American Jews Year of birth missing (living people) Disney executives People from Indiana