Maxine Clark

Maxine Clark (née Kasselman) is founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop, an American retailer that sells customizable teddy bears and other stuffed animals.

She graduated from the University of Georgia in 1971. She holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Louis University. In 2006, she published her first book “The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart”.

After college, she worked at Hecht's, a division of the May Company department store chain, and in 1976 was promoted to the corporate offices in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1992, Clark became the president of Payless Shoe Source, and left the company in 1996.

In addition to her Board service to Build-A-Bear Workshop, Maxine serves on the Board of Directors of Footlocker, Inc. Maxine serves on the Board of Trustees of Washington University in St. Louis and is a member of the Executive Committee. She is a member of the Teach For America National Board and the local St. Louis regional board, the National Board of Donorschoose.org and the KETC Channel 9 PBS Board of Directors. She and her husband Bob Fox are founding donors of KIPP Inspire Academy and Maxine is the chair of the charter school advisory Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the Committee of 200 and is a former member of the Board of Directors of The J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Maxine is a graduate of the University of Georgia, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Louis University. In 2006, she published her first book "The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart".

(Source: Wikipedia, Build-A-Bear Workshop®)