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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Indigenous Entrepreneurs
Sam McCracken, the founder of Nike's Native American-focused N7 business and a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribe, has announced plans to retire from the footwear company in 2025 after 28 years of service.
McCracken, who currently serves as general manager of N7, will remain with Nike through 2025 to help onboard his successor, according to a report in Footwear News.
"To all of you who have trusted me to do the work that I was called to do, thank you. To those who have embraced and pushed me on how we could support our community even more, thank you," McCracken wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing his retirement.
McCracken started his Nike career in 1997 as a forklift operator at the company's Wilsonville, Ore. distribution center. Three years later, he became manager of Nike's Native American business, where he recognized an opportunity to connect Nike with Indigenous communities while promoting health and wellness.
"It was my passion for my community and an opportunity I saw that we were giving the Indigenous community access to the largest sports brand in the world," McCracken told Tribal Business News in a 2022 interview.
Under McCracken's leadership, N7 has developed more than 25 product collections featuring materials and designs reflecting Native culture. In 2009, he helped establish the Nike N7 Fund, which has awarded over $8 million in grants to support programs for Indigenous youth across more than 270 communities.
The fund's impact includes supporting organizations like the Notah Begay III Foundation, which received part of $625,000 in donations from the N7 Fund to Native organizations in fiscal year 2022. Other recipients included the American Indian College Fund and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
"Visibility is power, and sport provides a platform for representation like no other," McCracken wrote in a post on Nike's website. "I want our youth to look at sport and see themselves as athletes. Because if you can see it, you can be it."
McCracken's work has earned recognition from former President Barack Obama, who appointed him to the U.S. Department of Education's National Advisory Council on Indian Education in 2010. In 2022, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship named him one of its Social Innovators of the Year.
Through Nike's Native American Network, McCracken has also helped drive recruitment from Indigenous communities and partnerships with organizations like the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.
The N7 program has highlighted Indigenous athletes including NBA player Kyrie Irving, National Women's Soccer League player Madison Hammond, Premier Lacrosse League player Lyle Thompson, and WNBA player Alissa Pili.
