Sonya Pankey is the Vice President of Human Relations and Talent for West Elm. In this role, she cultivates high caliber talent; creates programs that foster employee engagement and retention; provides leadership on human resource matters; and, promotes and fosters a culture of diversity and inclusion.

Before joining West Elm, Sonya spent more than two decades at Ralph Lauren Corporation. As the Vice President, Human Resources, she led the development and execution of human resources strategies for the 1,200+ employee Wholesale division dispersed across the U.S. and Latin America. In this role, she directed organizational design, change management, employee relations, talent management leadership development, and communications strategy. During this period, Sonya played an instrumental role in ensuring organizational and talent readiness for strategic imperatives as the company moved through explosive growth and transformation. She previously served as Senior Director, Human Resources where she helped create and sustain high-performing cultures focused on employee engagement and performance.

The first grandchild of Rachel and Jackie Robinson, Sonya studied at the Tobé Colburn School of Fashion and currently resides in New York City.