Serena Williams made sure more Black women have a seat at the table at Nike.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist, has been signed to Nike for more than two decades. In a conversation at Invest Fest with “Earn Your Leisure” in early August, she acknowledged her relationship with the company has changed throughout the years.
“Nike has grown a lot with me, and I feel like we’ve grown apart in the past and then we grew together, and then we got lock and step, and now I have a building and all the things,” Williams expressed at the Atlanta event.
She provides further insight into the period when she didn’t feel she was connected to, or growing with, the company. For her, it came down to not seeing enough people who looked like her in meetings. Nike later addressed that concern, then led by President and CEO Mark Parker, according to Williams’ remarks. Parker served from 2006 to 2020 and was succeeded by John Donahoe (2020-2024), who was succeeded by Elliott Hill in 2024, per Reuters.
“I see so many people that don’t look like me, and it is exhausting. I don’t see enough women. It was with Mark Parker, and it was a very interesting conversation. Kudos to Mark ’cause he literally changed what Nike is internally,” Williams said. “If you guys were to see Nike internally, it is so different than what it used to be. And all because of those conversations that I continue to push, and now it’s just like I’m like, ‘OK, we need a little diversity still, too.'”
She added, “But it’s a good thing. I love it. I love it so much ’cause all the bosses are women, are Black women. And I absolutely love that. And it feels good to know that I had a firsthand in that. And it feels good to know that a company that big could listen to an athlete like me and say, ‘OK, we hear you, and we’re actually going to do something about this.’ And we also notice that there can be a lot of change made.”
Some Black women executives leading at Nike include LaToya Kamara Manley, who serves as general manager of North America Express Lane as of September 2025, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has worked at Nike since 2016, working across Jordan Women’s and Jordan Streetwear.
Sarah Mensah has served at Nike since 2015, starting as vice president and general manager of Jordan Brand at Nike North America, being promoted several times, and now serving as president of Jordan Brand as of 2023. As AAFROTECH™ previously reported, with her appointment, she made history as the first woman to serve as president of Jordan Brand
