Nike Inc. announced the addition of Howard Taylor as managing director and vice president of the Nike Foundation, reporting directly to Nike Foundation President and CEO Maria Eitel. Taylor will join the Nike Foundation in January 2012 from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), an organization recognized as a world leader in international development.
Over the last three years, Taylor has led DFID's program in Ethiopia, refocusing it to deliver results for transformational change, and building it into a $500 million/year program – the largest UK Government development program in the world.
“Howard will be a tremendous asset in leading the day-to-day operations of the Nike Foundation, driving delivery of the Foundation's strategy across the organization and its partnerships in Beaverton, the US, London, Africa and Asia,” added Eitel.
Taylor has held a number of senior roles in his 14 years with DFID, including: running the office of the Secretary of State; Acting Head of DFID's program in India (then the largest program, run from five offices across India); and a secondment to the UK Prime Minister's Performance and Innovation Unit.
A widely respected thought leader and expert in the development sector, Taylor brings unparalleled experience in accelerating growth, development and graduation from aid to the Nike Foundation's exclusive focus on adolescent girls as catalysts to eradicate global poverty.
Taylor has been a strong partner of the Nike Foundation, particularly in its work in Ethiopia, and has played a critical role in the joint venture between DFID and the Nike Foundation that began in 2010. In leading DFID Ethiopia, he has built partnerships and created networks to deliver some of the most innovative and transformational development interventions in Ethiopia.
The Nike Foundation (www.nikefoundation.org) invests exclusively in adolescent girls as the most powerful force for change and poverty alleviation in the developing world. The Foundation's investments are designed to get girls on the global agenda and drive resources to them. The work of the Nike Foundation is supported by Nike, Inc. and the NoVo Foundation, a collaboration that has significantly broadened the impact of the Girl Effect.
