Three Gifts from Nike (part 3) 0

Written on 13 Oct 2014

#3 Reuse, Reinvent, Recycle - Nike did something magical with their Foundation. Instead of doing the expected thing and get involved in some philanthropic work connected to sport, they decided instead to apply the organisation’s ability to think really big against one of the world’s greatest problems – world poverty.

And so the girl effect was born. This is the unique ability of adolescent girls to solve poverty for themselves, their families, communities, nations and ultimately the world. Nike landed on the most powerful global force for change and then applied it’s greatest thinking and communications skills to bring it to the world.

My last couple of years at Nike were spent applying the 14 years of brand mastery I’d had the privilege to learn in the business to creating local brands for girls in Africa that inspired them, empowered them and started to shift the conversations around girls. Ni Nyampinga in Rwanda, Yegna in Ethiopia – the beginnings of real change for girls, their families and their countries.

Frederic Hudson, one of the greatest greats of coaching, would have approved. He reminds us that we must ‘know how to recycle yourself…weave, unravel and reweave your life, over and over’.

That indeed is a gift that keeps on giving!

Last modified on Monday, 13 October 2014 11:55

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