99 Cents Only CMO Joins Trustees

Jack Sinclair, chief merchandising officer of 99 Cents Only Stores, has joined the Westmont Board of Trustees. Sinclair, whose daughter Kirsty is a junior at Westmont, is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Strathclyde. The 32-member board of trustees oversees the operations of the college.

Before joining 99 Cents in July 2015, Sinclair served Walmart Stores as executive vice president of the U.S. Grocery Division for more than seven years, overseeing about 4,000 grocery stores. He was a panelist at Westmont’s Lead Where You Stand Conference in 2015.

While living in Arkansas, the family frequently visited Carpinteria and was aware of Westmont. “Kirsty was looking in all sorts of places for a good Christian school and the opportunity opened to come here and visit and she fell in love with the place,” Jack says. “That’s what brought me here and we’ve been connected with the college since the first day she arrived.”

Sinclair supports non-profits in Scotland and the United States. He has a particular heart for the activities of the Arkansas Crisis Center, which does significant work in suicide prevention, and Watershed, created to provide for the underprivileged in Little Rock, Arkansas. Watershed was created by Reverend Hezekiah Stewart and has provided 32 million meals and utility bill assistance to 20,000 since 1976.  He cites Reverend Stewart’s selfless motivation as an inspiration.

Sinclair sees many of those same qualities in the alumni, students, faculty and staff at Westmont. “I very much believe in the mission of Westmont, growing and developing Christian leaders to make a big difference in our community,” he says. “Society needs more people with Christian values making a difference. Around the globe, I meet and see people who have been at Westmont and they are making a difference in the world in a good way.

“This is a very special place in terms of its beauty, location and wealth of impressive faculty and students and what they are trying to accomplish,” he says.

Jack and his wife, Mechelle, have three other children: Scott, Andrew and Callum.