Photographer: Carly Wollaert ©
Make-up artist: Sharmila Vooren
NIKE
“Nike’s culture of innovation includes the unique intersection of tech and sport. We’re building the next generation of disruptive digital tools, advanced platforms, and innovative processes to help redefine the future for athletes. We can only do this by building a workplace that focuses on equality and inclusion; where learning from diverse perspectives pushes us to make progress on and off the court. We are proud to be a part of the Equals campaign and highlight three of our role models that embody these principles.”
Kidada Clare
Technical Operations Manager at NIKE
About
“Very early in my life, I knew that connecting people is what I am most passionate about. So, about 23 years ago, I started my career in Retail Management & Human Resources. Very soon after that, I fell in love with “The Swoosh” and joined Nike as a Recruitment Coordinator. Following that, I started being interested in the technology function. However, at that time, I didn’t have any tech background, so I decided to start building a network in that space in the hope that I would be able to re-orient my career in that direction. I was so excited when it worked, and I took on roles such as IT Service Delivery/ Project Manager. Today I am Manager TechOps, a role in which I am responsible for Technology support in our offices and stores in Turkey, Israel, South Africa, Greece, and Northern Europe. It might seem strange to many people to move from Human resources to Technology, but I believe it makes perfect sense when you understand that in both spaces, your mission is to enable people to perform better. In my current role, this is exactly what we do: we enable the teams to deliver for the business through technology.“
Why do you think is important that Role Models need to be visible?
“Nike’s vision of bringing sport to every athlete* in the world comes through beautiful storytelling. Those stories are about the hopes and dreams of every one of us, elite athletes or everyday athletes. And these people become role models who inspire, teach, and make you want to show up better every day. Through the years, role models have changed, and that is how it should be as we must reflect on the changes in the world we live in. The new generation will need new role models to look up to, people like you and me, who push the boundaries of what they thought was even possible for them.”
Interview
Tekst interview