UPDATE: Nike’s Head of Diversity Antoine Andrews Leaves Amidst Review of Corporate Culture
More employees have exited the Swoosh.
UPDATE: According to The Wall Street Journal two more Nike employees have left the brand. As stated by the report, both Vikrant Singh, North America senior brand director for Nike Basketball, and Daniel Tawiah, vice president of global brand digital marketing innovation have been forced out. Stay tuned for further updates.
Following last month’s report of Nike President Trevor Edwards resigning amidst reports of inappropriate workplace behavior, it has now come to light that Nike’s vice president of diversity and inclusion, Antoine Andrews, is also leaving.
According to Bloomberg, Andrews, who joined Nike in 2015 as a vice president, left the sportswear giant during a review of corporate culture. The company declined Bloomberg’s request to give further details, including why Andrews left.
Less than 24 hours after Edwards’ departure was announced, reports surfaced that Nike’s vice president and general manager of global categories Jayme Martin was also caught up in a misconduct probe and had been “forced out of the company” after complaints as well.
In a companywide e-mail sent out last month, Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker stated:
“Team,
Over the past few weeks, we’ve become aware of reports of behavior occurring within our organization that do not reflect our core values of inclusivity, respect and empowerment at a time when we are accelerating our transition to the next stage of growth and advancing our culture. This disturbs and saddens me…
We are going to be doing a comprehensive review of our HR systems and practices along with elevating our complaint process for matter of respect issues. We will increase and invest more heavily in our diversity and inclusion teams and networks and additionally will immediately put in place an enhanced process to encourage our employees to speak up and make their voices heard…
Further I want to share with you that in light of my desire to accelerate change, I’ve made the decision to restructure my leadership team into a different alignment that will allow for closer management and a sharper focus on our culture…I also want to communicate that I am committed to serve as Chairman, President and CEO for Nike beyond 2020. Trevor Edwards has decided to resign as Nike Brand President and will retire in August. He will serve as an advisor to me until his retirement as we transition the organization.
I’d like to thank Nike for his significant contributions to Nike over the last 25 years. He has helped us grow and strengthen our brand on a global scale…”
Edwards, the tarnished Nike executive, will reportedly receive a $525,000 USD payout.
