Nike has named Kizmet Mills as its new DEI chief, making her the fifth person to fill the role since 2020.
Nike elevated Mills, who has been with the company since 2016, from her role as senior director of global diversity equity and inclusion at Nike, the company confirmed to FN. Her promotion to vice president, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer is effective Nov. 11.
She succeeds James Loduca, who announced his departure from the Swoosh in a Thursday LinkedIn post. He left the company after a nearly two-year tenure to spend more time with his family.
“At Nike, we strive to be leaders in fostering a strong culture of belonging and believe that the work of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team is critical to helping us achieve this mission,” Nike said in a statement. “Having held senior leadership roles within the company for more than eight years, Kizmet is well positioned to continue advancing Nike’s goals of championing all athletes.
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With her appointment, Mills becomes Nike’s fifth person to fill the role of DEI chief at Nike since 2020. When Loduca joined Nike from Twitter in March 2023, he replaced Nike’s former DEI chief Jarvis Sam, who left the company in November 2022, just six months into his role as chief DEI officer. Sam left at the time to launch his own DEI consulting and strategy group, The Rainbow Disruption. Prior to Sam, Felicia Mayo served as the company’s chief talent, diversity and culture officer for two years until August of 2022. Kellie Leonard was named Nike’s first head of diversity in 2018 and served in the role until 2020.
The short tenure of DEI chiefs at Nike reflects a broader trend. The average tenure of a chief diversity officer is just 2.9 years, according to a December report from board and leadership consulting firm Spencer Stuart. That ranks as the shortest tenure across all C-suite roles tracked by the firm, which found that the average total tenure across the C-suite was 4.6 years. In line with this trend, Colleen Mitchell exited Nordstrom after two years as its head of diversity, equity, inclusion earlier this month.
For Nike, Mills’ promotion also represents the latest in a string of executive promotions and shifts at the brand since Elliott Hill assumed the role of chief executive officer. Earlier this week, Nike made several promotions in its legal, supply chain and sports marketing divisions.
Earlier this month, Nike offered mixed results in its first earnings call since announcing that its CEO John Donahoe would step down and be replaced by Hill. Given the CEO shift, Nike withdrew its guidance for the year and said it would provide quarterly guidance throughout 2025.
