Maria Eitel – President & CEO
Maria Eitel is the founding President & CEO of the Nike Foundation, where she created the foundation’s singular focus on adolescent girls. The girl effect is the simple yet powerful idea that adolescent girls living in poverty are uniquely positioned to stop poverty before it starts.
Eitel leads the Nike Foundation’s vision for taking the girl effect to scale, focusing her time on developing innovative partnerships and driving long-term organizational strategy. Prior to the Foundation, Eitel served as NIKE, Inc.’s first Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, tasked with developing and implementing the company's first corporate responsibility agenda. Before NIKE, Inc., Eitel served as the European Corporate Affairs manager for Microsoft Corporation, where she managed corporate, public and community initiatives based out of Microsoft’s European headquarters. Prior to Microsoft, Eitel led public affairs for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and served as Senior Manager of Communications and Community Relations at MCI Communications Corp. She also led media relations for the U.S. White House as Deputy Director and Special Assistant to the United States President for Media Affairs. Eitel began her career as a reporter and producer in commercial and public broadcasting. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University, a Masters of Science in Foreign Studies from Georgetown University, a Senior Executive Program degree from Stanford University and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanity from Babson College.
Eitel serves on a number of boards, committees and advisory councils including the Acumen Fund Advisory Council, Girl Hub Board of Trustees, Initiative for Global Development Leadership Council, Nike Foundation Board of Directors and World President’s Association.
Howard Taylor – Managing Director
Howard Taylor is the Vice President & Managing Director of the Nike Foundation, managing overall operations for the organization. Taylor joined the Nike Foundation after 14 years with the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), where he led the U.K.’s largest development program in Ethiopia. During his time with DFID, Taylor built partnerships and created networks to deliver some of the most innovative and transformational development interventions in Western Africa. Taylor held a number of senior roles within DFID, including Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State, Acting Head of DFID’s program in India (then the largest program, run from five offices across India), and a secondment to the U.K. Prime Minister’s Performance and Innovation Unit. Taylor has a PhD in Economics and Masters of Science degree in Medical Demography from the University of London, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Population Studies from the University of Southampton.
Collette Hemmings - Chief Operating Officer
Collette Hemmings oversees all Nike Foundation core functions, including finance, operations, human resources and knowledge management. She joined the Nike Foundation from NIKE, Inc., where she led several operational functions in apparel. Prior to that, Hemmings led Product Integrity for Nike EMEA based out of the Netherlands, opened the Nike Apparel Liaison Office in Shanghai, and led the Global Product Integrity function at Nike World Headquarters. Hemmings also led the initial corporate team and business proposal for Road to Zero, which addressed Nike’s public commitment to eliminate toxics from the supply chain. She holds a Textile Engineering degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Caroline Whaley – General Manager, Creative Development
Caroline Whaley leads the brand creative and insights work for the girl effect, focusing specifically on the role that brands can play in driving global social change. During 15+ years with NIKE, Inc., she has held a number of senior marketing and general management leadership positions in Europe, Canada and Latin America. Most recently, she served as the Managing Director of Girl Hub, the joint venture between the Nike Foundation and U.K. Department for International Development (DFID). Prior to NIKE, Inc., Whaley spent 10 years as an executive in the travel industry. Whaley brings specific experience in driving greater investment and awareness toward girls’ issues, having created and launched “The Girls in Sports Partnership” initiative that helped evolve the way girls were taught sports in British schools. She holds an MBA from Lancaster University in the U.K. and is also an executive business coach.
Stuart Hogue – General Manager, Girl Hub
Stuart Hogue oversees Girl Hub programs in Africa and Asia and leads the management of major partnerships within the public and private sector. Before joining the Nike Foundation in 2007, Hogue was a strategy director at frog design in New York City where he advised clients such as HP and MTV on brand strategy and new product development. Prior to this, he was a VP of Product Development at Thomson Financial in New York. Hogue received an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business and Bachelors of Science degree from Washington and Lee University.
Board of Directors
- Mark Parker, President & CEO, NIKE, Inc.
- Charlie Denson, President, Nike Brand, NIKE, Inc.
- Maria Eitel, President & CEO, Nike Foundation
- Don Blair, Executive VP and CFO, NIKE, Inc.
- Jennifer Buffett, Co-Chair, NoVo Foundation
- Peter Buffett, Co-Chair, NoVo Foundation
- Gary DeStefano, President, Global Operations, NIKE, Inc.
- Trevor Edwards, Executive VP, Global Brand & Category Management, NIKE, Inc.
- Hannah Jones, VP, Sustainable Business & Innovation, NIKE, Inc.
- Hilary Krane, Executive VP, Legal and Corporate Affairs, NIKE, Inc.
Board of Advisors
- Dr. Chris Elias, President, Global Development Program, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund
- Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO, Mercy Corps
- Rick Little, Founder and President, The ImagineNations Group
- Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, Ambassador of the Republic of Zambia
- Dr. Pawan G. Patil, Senior Economist, The World Bank
- Michael Spence, Philip H. Knight Professor, Emeritus & Former Dean Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences