Bringing NIKE, Inc.’s mission to life starts with our people and creating a workforce that represents different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.<h3>Our people are our greatest strength.</h3>Our strength comes from the different viewpoints and talents of NIKE, Inc.’s employees around the globe. With a sharp focus on culture, inclusion and belonging, we unlock the potential of our current team and future talent through four pillars:<ul><li>Diversity: Reflect the diversity of our marketplace in everything we do</li><li>Equity: Drive equitable experiences for all teammates across the employee lifecycle</li><li>Inclusion: Cultivate a culture where everyone feels like they belong</li><li>Accessibility: Enable inclusion and access for all athletes*</li></ul>*If you have a body, you are an athlete.

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We create community and allyship across NIKE, Inc. through our employee networks, available to all employees.

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From its singular pork ribs and fried catfish to the wailing, rhythmic riffs of rock ‘n’ roll and the blues, Memphis has helped birth American cultural identity and ingenuity.But it’s also known as the place of an ending. Blocks from bustling Beale Street, on April 4, 1968, a bullet dashed one of our country’s greatest dreamers, a Southern preacher whose words galvanized the world.Willie Gregory, Nike Senior Director, Community Relations, was a teenager living in Memphis on that fateful evening. The moment changed him. Inside, it sparked something.In the nearly 60 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died on a motel balcony near Gregory’s old neighborhood, Gregory has firmly planted roots in the city, on a mission to reshape its narrative.He has served Nike for more than 30 years from here, working with others to create opportunities for employment and education while developing a reputation as the “unofficial mayor” of Memphis. From sitting on the board of trustees for city museums to serving on the city’s chamber of commerce to his role in bringing the University of Memphis athletics into the Nike family, Gregory’s impact has been immense.There is so much life in Memphis, Gregory says. It’s important to him that people feel that sense of energy and community while also honoring the past. Which is why he and his Memphis teammates helped launch <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/mission/initiatives/community-engagement" target="_blank">the Nike Kids 3K</a>, a late-summer race that begins and ends outside the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was killed.The building has since been reimagined as the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://civilrightsmuseum.org/" target="_blank">National Civil Rights Museum</a>, dedicated to telling the story about the injustice Dr. King battled and how that fight has evolved in the years since his death. Today, the museum also serves as a key access point to movement and teamwork for children in the region thanks in part to the efforts of Gregory, who served on the museum’s board of directors from 2002 to 2015.Gregory joined us recently for a walk to the museum to discuss his city, his mission at Nike and how the company is helping him give back to a community that means so much to him.

When you think about this city, how does it make you feel? It makes me feel proud to be a Memphian, to be able to have employment that helps me make a difference in the city that I grew up in, a city that gave me so much. It makes me feel good to be able to give something back.They always say there’s no place like home. And if something goes wrong in your home, you fix it. We’re not perfect, but we’ve got room to fix it. So I want to be a part of the fixing situation.We have great people in Memphis. We have collaborative people. We have people who want to be guided. We have people who want to give back. One of the big things in Memphis is the community-based organizations. We’ve got great theater, we’ve got great sports, we’ve got great universities, we’ve got an HBCU, LeMoyne-Owen College.That’s what makes this city great. Do we have a lot of more work to do? Yes. We’ve got to get business, education and government investment all on the same page, then I think there’s more greatness to be seen.

Gregory helped launch the Nike Kids 3K in 2018 and has played a key role in the race ever since. “I really, really get geeked about it,” he tells writer Coley Harvey.

What’s Special About the Nike Kids 3K

Nike has held its Kids 3K here since 2018, and you were a key member of getting it off the ground. What has the race meant to you?The thing that’s so enlightening is to see 4-, 5- and 6-year-old kids at the end of the race, and they get an opportunity to visit a historical site in Memphis, the National Civil Rights Museum. To see those young people when they cross the finish line, that means that they’ve accomplished something. And I think that when you start at an early age of having accomplishments early in your life, that trend can continue all the way through adulthood.I really, really get geeked about it.

How do you think Nike is making a difference here in Memphis?We’re trying to make sure that we are great corporate citizens. The legacy of Nike, the beginning of Nike, is running. That’s the big thing. In this race, you will see a number of Nike employees who are giving back. They’re out here volunteering. They’re being a part of the community. A lot of them bring their kids, their nieces, their nephews, their sisters, their brothers. That’s the part that really, really excites me and I think excites a lot of other people too.Nike also contributes to education. Nike has a college degree program with the University of Memphis <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/mission/initiatives/investing-in-our-nike-teams" target="_blank">called Lane Four</a>. Nike pays 100 percent of our employees' college tuition, and they’re not compelled to work for Nike after they get a degree. We want to make sure that we pour into the community and the city, and we think that education is one of the ways that we can.

Gregory says he feels an “uneasiness” entering the National Civil Rights Museum. “Dr. King said, ‘I’ve been to the mountaintop.’ Where we are today, if we’re not careful, we won’t reach the top.”

How Memphis’ Past Impacts Willie Gregory’s Work

This city has such a civil rights legacy. You were born and raised here. You were in high school on April 4, 1968. Tell me about that day, and what do you feel when you look at Room 306 today?We had just finished track practice. Me and some of my track partners ran down here, and there was complete chaos. I looked up and saw 306 and said: “That’s where they tried to stop the dream.” But I don’t think it was successful. I think that what they did was accelerate the dream.Now I tell people, “Come, take a good look, process it, understand what happened.” You just envision why he was here. Dr. King was here because he wanted to stay at a hotel that was owned and operated by Black people, the Baileys. When I look up there and I see that wreath, I can say this is what really ignited us to get to where we are. It was part of the dream that Dr. King had.What our city needed was people who could pull together, collaborate and have an opportunity to heal. I wanted to be a part of that healing process, and I still want to be a part of the process. We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m just so proud to work for a company that gave me the opportunity to come home and to give to the community and the city.If he gave his life for equality, then I certainly can give what I can to maintain that fight for equality. And it’s still a fight for equality now.

Visiting the National Civil Rights Museum after the Nike Kids 3K has helped Memphians feel “enriched and enlightened,” says Gregory. “They ran together, and now they are learning something together.”

Supporting the National Civil Rights Museum

Why is it so important for Nike to have a relationship with the National Civil Rights Museum?Because this is where our teammates live, work, their kids play, they raise their family. We want them to have an environment that is both safe and educational.This relationship with the museum was garnered back when Nelson Mandela received the Freedom Award in 2000, and Phil Knight came down from Oregon and gave it to him. So that built what I hope is a continual, long-lasting relationship with Nike and the Civil Rights Museum because one of the co-founders came here and gave the award to President Mandela. And the speech that he made that night, which I still have a copy of, made every Nike person that was employed here proud.

The man called the “unofficial mayor of Memphis” talks about giving back to the city that shaped him, creating opportunities for the next generation, and carrying Memphis‘ legacy forward.

People

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5 Questions With Memphis Mainstay Willie Gregory

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/khorshed-deboo-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Khorshed Deboo</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/prarthna-singh-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Prarthna Singh</a>Editor's Note: This feature is co-published with <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theestablished.com/" target="_blank">The Established</a>, a Mumbai-based digital platform dedicated to exploring culture, fashion, beauty and art. When Garima Dhamija runs, she doesn’t just chase distance or pace — she’s craving space for herself, for dialogue. “For women in India, running is extremely liberating,” says the 51-year-old marathoner and coach. “Just getting some ‘me time,’ which isn’t common, that’s where it starts. And then a sense of achievement follows. That’s validating.” Based in Gurugram, outside of Delhi, Dhamija discovered running at the age of 40 while grappling with depression and menopause. Now, she’s clocked over 100 half marathons and 10 full ones, including Boston, where she placed among the fastest recreational runners in her age group.

On May 10, 2025, Dhamija — along with her 25-year-old daughter, Niharika — was among the 3,000-plus women who took part in the Mumbai chapter of the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-2025-after-dark-tour-womens-race-series" target="_blank">Nike After Dark Tour</a>, a unique 10-kilometer women-only night race past the city's iconic landmarks. According to Dhamija, "Running in the dark is just not normal in India. There are a couple of small night events where I live where we can go and run safely. But other than that, I can't imagine it, not even walking. It's a sense of not being able to do something that should be normal." While the After Dark race holds the distinction of being India's largest women's 10K to date, it points to a much bigger movement. Across India, women are lacing up to reclaim both their bodies and their streets. From sunrise jogs to evening runs, the movement is about more than just fitness — it's about freedom, self-determination and camaraderie.

Finding strength in numbers

For Merlyn Matchavel, a Sunday run sets the tone for a busy week, making her feel calmer and more focused at work. The 35-year-old Mumbai-based breast surgical oncologist started running a little over a year ago. “After years of medical school, I knew I needed to get back into fitness,” she says. “I started with morning walks and would see runners...honestly, it felt intimidating. I wondered, Could I ever do that?” Her first session with <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/sistersinsweat.in/?hl=en" target="null">Sisters in Sweat</a>, India’s largest women-only sport and wellness community, left her breathless. “I could barely run a minute without wanting to stop,” she says. “Some days, it’s difficult to push myself, but running with a group of women has instilled immense discipline and consistency. It’s empowering too.” So much so that Matchavel is preparing for her first marathon in Berlin this September.

While she says the prospect of training for 26.2 miles can be daunting, simply getting a post-run coffee or breakfast with her fellow runners is reward enough for putting in the hard work. “There’s also the element of accountability. If you’ve told your friend that you will run with her the next morning, you cannot let her down. You have to wake up.” Running is often seen as an individual sport, however the support system is anything but, whether you’re training with friends or in the company of total strangers. Dhamija describes women she first met while running who are now close friends, bonding over banter and breakdowns. “I think a natural, unspoken bond is formed when you run with another woman,” she says. “You can talk about anything. It might be very personal or private, and the other woman will just understand. I’ve had so many conversations about menopause — still a hushed-up topic — while running with women who are complete strangers. Yes, you can talk about superficial things, but you can also talk about what’s really bothering you.”The benefits of running are both physiological and emotional. “You see a lot of running failures, despite putting in the work,” continues Dhamija, who’s currently balancing caregiving for her aging father with a full-time job as a leadership coach and co-founder of an HR advisory firm. “How do you hold these failures with grace? There’s that sense of working hard and then surrendering the outcome. That’s my biggest learning from running, apart from patience.” Along with depth of insight and a newfound sense of community, running also lets one view their city through a fresh lens, like mapping a psychogeography — eyes, mind, feet in sync — something 30-year-old Mishti Khatri, a Mumbai-based marathon trainer and Nike Run Coach, resonates with. While the first one or two kilometers are always painful for Khatri, who began running to overcome her childhood fear of it, she soon finds her rhythm. “It always seemed impossible before. But now, running is like meditation in motion for me. It is a very blissful space; I shut the world out,” she says. “Halfway into my run, the sun comes up. I feel I get to experience an otherwise teeming city in a different light. Sometimes, if I’m driving past my running route, I think to myself, Damn, I actually ran this distance. Because of running, I feel more connected to my city.”

Currently completing a PhD in endurance performance, the menstrual cycle and nitrates, with the goal of contributing to scientific research exclusively focused on women athletes in India, Khatri coached participants for the After Dark Tour for 10 weeks. The training sessions started with 40 runners and grew, by word of mouth, to over 400, with over 60 percent of participants identifying as first-time runners.

Expanding the future of running for women in India

"Running on the streets of Indian cities can come with risk, especially for women. For Dhamija, the real change will unfold when women don’t have to fear stepping outside alone, and she’s doing her part to create the change she wants to see: “Some years ago,” Dhamija recalls, “me and a few women got together and did something called the ‘Shed-It Run,’ where basically you remove your T-shirt and run in a sports bra, which was not a common thing in India at the time. When the organizers came to me and asked if I would join, I didn’t blink an eye. It was only when I spoke to my male friends who are runners, they were very worried, and not just about our safety. That bothered me. And that’s when I knew change was needed.”

Yet every lap is laced with optimism. In Mumbai, young girls are forming their own running clubs and documenting every sweaty stride on social media. Many of them showed up for the Mumbai edition of the Nike After Dark Tour. The event saw women from different generations coming together to take to the streets on a muggy yet exhilarating night. “It’s so fulfilling to see women coming together and having this experience. Over the past 10 weeks, I’ve seen their confidence grow,” says Khatri.&nbsp;While more women in urban India across age groups and backgrounds are on the roads to reclaim space, agency and identity, Dhamija notes the hurdles that persist: a lack of safe public spaces, cultural stigma, caregiving responsibilities, and limited representation of women in coaching and leadership roles. She believes hyperlocal communities, with familiar faces and shared intent, can shift the culture. “In Haryana, for example, women taking up sports isn’t new. Just look at the women in <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/23/style/girls-wrestling-academy-india.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="null">wrestling</a>,” she says. “Grassroots programs and even brands can help normalize running in the same way.”Visibility is only the start. The future of running in India will depend on whether it can become a truly inclusive movement, one that welcomes women not just as participants, but as decision-makers, coaches and architects of change.

One such changemaker? Nike Run Coach <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/swoosh-tc-announcement" target="_blank">Diljeet Taylor</a>, who has trained over 100 All-Americans and serves as the Nike After Dark Tour’s Head Coach, having designed its global training program. Born in California to Indian immigrant parents, Taylor entered elementary school speaking only Punjabi. It was when she began running races — and winning, even beating the boys — that she finally came into her own.&nbsp;“I grew up as a young girl who never saw Indian women in sport. As a matter of fact, it was discouraged,” she says. “I felt like I didn’t have a true sense of belonging in sport as an Indian woman.”&nbsp;

Now based in Utah, where she coaches Brigham Young University’s Division 1 women’s cross-country and track and field teams, Taylor traveled 48 hours to be in Mumbai for the After Dark Tour. “This is a full-circle moment for me, one that I’m beyond proud to be a part of,” she says. In addition to her official After Dark Tour duties, Taylor found time to have breakfast on race day with Dhamija, Matchavel, and Khatri, whom she chatted with on video calls individually in the weeks prior. Taylor knows that what women experience upon crossing the finish line is more than just victory. “There is a sense of gratitude for what they were able to do, for showing up and completing what they signed up for. Most people think runner’s high is the euphoria of attaining a certain distance or pace. But beyond euphoria, it’s that sense of pride you have in yourself,” she shares.

To that end, Dhamija concludes, “If done right, recreational running can evolve into a deeply inclusive and transformative movement for women in India.” As for the naysayers? Matchavel has some advice: “I have learnt to ignore and simply mute them, both literally and figuratively. It’s a quiet win.”There was nothing quiet about the After Dark Tour 10K, which electrified the streets of Mumbai with a cacophony of cheers and the pounding of sneakers on pavement, making clear that Indian women are passionate about running — for themselves and each other. And they’re showing zero signs of slowing down.

Running on pavement, along promenades, under stadium lights and in celebratory races like the Nike After Dark Tour Mumbai, more and more Indian women are taking to the streets and reclaiming space and power — together.

Nike Running

Feature

The Women Creating a New Running Culture in India

There is no athlete like Oksana Masters. The 36-year-old is now the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time — and the most decorated American athlete ever to compete in both the Summer and Winter Paralympics.She earned her first medal in rowing at the 2012 Summer Games in London and collected four golds in para biathlon and para cross-country skiing in the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, bringing her total count to 24. Across four sports and two seasons, Masters has built a career defined by movement between summer and winter competition, over more than a decade of elite performance. What defines her career isn’t just the medal count. Masters has repeatedly rebuilt her body and her training, returning to competition after surgeries and setbacks that forced her to start over. She has solidified a lasting legacy through a simple but demanding principle: the willingness to begin again. Here, she reflects in her own words on reinvention, resilience and what winning means to her now.

What I’ve learned is that I’m not attached to comfort, I’m attached to growth. Constant transition forces you to let go of who you were in the last season and what you knew. Your body changes, your training changes, your goals evolve. You don’t get to stay the expert for long. You have to be willing to be a beginner again — and I love that phase. I’ve learned that I thrive in that space.When I think about what feels most central to who I am as an athlete today, it’s not just one medal, one podium, or even a specific sport. It’s the process of constantly starting over. I’ve had to rebuild my body more times than I can count — after surgeries, after injuries, after setbacks that literally forced me back to square one. Every season has demanded a different version of me.&nbsp;Resetting each season has taught me adaptability. It’s taught me how to listen to my body, how to trust the process and how to separate my identity from one sport or one result. I’m not defined by snow or summer. I’m defined by my mindset. The transition keeps me hungry. It keeps me curious. It reminds me that growth happens when you’re willing to shift, learn, rebuild and be uncomfortable.

Moving between seasons isn’t a disruption. It’s a rhythm. And I’ve learned how to move with it instead of resisting it. That’s the key.Representing Team USA has always carried a responsibility that goes far beyond a race or a result. When I line up on a start line, I’m not just carrying my own story. I’m carrying the people who believed in me when the path didn’t exist yet. The adaptive athletes who are still fighting for access and opportunity and the next generation who might be watching and wondering if there’s space for them in sport. That’s something I feel every time I compete.&nbsp;Competing in the Paralympics isn’t pressure in a negative way — it’s purpose. It reminds me that showing up matters. If someone sees themselves in that moment and realizes that their story or their body doesn’t disqualify them from dreaming big, then everything I’ve been through has meaning beyond my own career.Heading into another Paralympic moment, I don’t feel defined by gold medals. I feel defined by the quiet mornings, the training-in-the-dark sessions, the moments when no one was watching and quitting would have been so much easier. That’s where the real work lives. That’s what has built every podium for me.I’m an athlete who refuses to let circumstances decide what’s possible or define my ceiling. I’m someone who keeps evolving, keeps pushing and will always keep showing up.Innovation has always been part of what makes longevity in sport possible. As athletes, we’re constantly learning how to adapt, whether that’s new training methods, new technology or new ways of understanding our bodies. Those advances create opportunities to push boundaries that once felt fixed.

For me, evolution is essential. When equipment, science and support systems continue to improve, it allows athletes to keep raising the level of performance and to stay competitive longer than people once thought possible.Every race is a new moment. Everything that came before it — the setbacks, the injuries, the training — all comes down to those few minutes where you get to test yourself again. There’s something incredibly powerful about that reset. It reminds me why I fell in love with sport in the first place. It’s not about perfection. It’s about seeing what happens when preparation meets belief.

Early in my career, success meant proving I belonged. It meant medals. It meant podiums — something tangible I could hold and say, “See, I earned this.” I carried so much of my story with me that I felt like I had to validate it every time I stepped onto that start line. But now success looks very different. Success is about impact. It’s about creating change for para-athletes, building opportunities, pushing for accessibility and making sure every ability has a place in sport. It’s about showing the world there’s no right or wrong way to line up at the start.If I can change one life —&nbsp;shift one person’s perspective on how they see themselves and what they believe they’re capable of — that’s my biggest win now. I still want to win. That fire hasn’t changed and never will. But today success is bigger than me. Medals are moments. Impact is the legacy.

The Nike athlete, and now most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian, has repeatedly rebuilt her body and her training, returning to competition after surgeries and setbacks that forced her to start over. Here, she reflects on resilience and what winning means to her now.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Our people are our greatest strength.

Resources

Initiatives

Fostering a Culture of Belonging

Enabling Accessibility

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From The Record

5 Questions With Memphis Mainstay Willie Gregory

The Women Creating a New Running Culture in India

Oksana Masters on Reinvention and the Power of Starting Again

The Future of Youth Sport

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