David Jaffe was a Senior Fellow in Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, focusing on confronting climate change through education. Prior to this, David was chairman and CEO of Ascena Retail Group, a publicly held women’s apparel retailer operating in the United States and Canada through principal brands Ann Taylor, LOFT, dressbarn, Lane Bryant, Catherines, and Justice. Before his 27 years of executive leadership at Ascena, he was a general partner for Chemical Bank’s private equity arm and a portfolio manager at Merrill Lynch.
Under David’s leadership, Ascena was recognized for its corporate social responsibility, corporate giving program, diversity and inclusion efforts, and promotion of gender parity. David is a director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Nature Conservancy’s Connecticut Chapter, Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
