ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 15, 2025--
Caleres (NYSE: CAL) today announced Kathleen Welter has joined the company as chief human resources officer. Welter will oversee all human resources functions for the company’s portfolio of brands and its more than 9,000 Associates worldwide, including recruitment, talent management, training, culture, compensation, benefits and labor law compliance. Welter will be a member of the company’s leadership team and will report to President and CEO Jay Schmidt. She will be based in St. Louis.
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Doug Koch, current chief human resources officer, will remain at Caleres for a 30-day transition period with Welter and to support special projects until his retirement at year-end.
Welter brings nearly three decades of human resources experience to Caleres with expertise in aligning talent with strategic vision and organizational objectives. Most recently she was the principal lead for the HR team at Woodard & Curran as vice president of human resources, where she oversaw senior executive recruitment and succession planning, restructured performance, development and compensation strategies, and led HR integration of acquisitions. Previously, Welter was a senior consultant at Talent Equation where she grew the company’s consulting practice by partnering with a diverse base of clients to support organizational design and team development. She is returning to Caleres where she worked for a decade, first as director of talent management and then as vice president of talent strategy and leadership continuity. Welter has her MBA and bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri.
About Caleres:
Caleres is a market-leading portfolio of global footwear brands that includes Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Stuart Weitzman, Allen Edmonds, Naturalizer, Vionic and more. Our products are available virtually everywhere - in the nearly 1,000 retail stores we operate, in hundreds of major department and specialty stores, on our branded e-commerce sites, and on many additional third-party retail platforms. Combined, these brands make Caleres a company with both a legacy and a mission. Our legacy is nearly 150 years of craftsmanship and our passion for fit, while our mission is to continue to inspire people to feel great…feet first. Visit caleres.com to learn more about us.
Kathleen Welter joins Caleres as Chief Human Resources Officer.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday asked lawmakers to approve reforms to the oil industry that would open the doors to greater foreign investment during her first state of the union speech less than two weeks after its longtime leader was toppled by the United States.
Rodríguez, who has been under pressure by the Trump administration to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation, said sales of Venezuelan oil would go to bolster crisis-stricken health services, economic development and other infrastructure projects.
She outlined a distinct vision for the future, straying from her predecessors, who have long railed against American intervention in Venezeula. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the U.S., said Rodriguez, the former vice president who must now navigate competing pressures from the Trump administration and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.
The speech, which was broadcast on a delay in Venezuela, came one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster.
On Thursday, Trump met at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.
Rodríguez, who had a call with Trump earlier this week, said Wednesday evening on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.
The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.
American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.
For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.
Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”
Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.
Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
