Kathy Baird

Senior Director of Global Communications

Nike

Kathy is a Senior Director of Global Communications at Nike. She is a creative marketing communications leader and strategist with 20+ years of experience in corporate and consumer marketing and a backbone in digital communications.

At Nike, Kathy is responsible for creating activations through storytelling and immersive experiences that bring the brand to life on and offline. With her team of strategists and creatives, Kathy leverages the power of sport to bring athletes, influencers and leaders together to inspire, engage and make the world a better place, inside and outside the company. She is a champion for causes and delves deep into social impact. Her work spans across Nike’s purpose initiatives including the Nike N7 collection, which brings visibility to and representation of Native people and Native designers, the Nike N7 fund, which is Nike’s commitment to sport and Native youth, and most currently Nike’s Get Out the Vote program. Kathy also serves as the Chief of Staff and Communications for Nike’s Native American Network.

She was previously the Managing Director and Head of the Ogilvy office in Washington, DC where she oversaw a cross-functional integrated business and team. Clients included The Washington Post, Smithsonian Institute, Medela, Mozilla Firefox, Medela and Five Guys among others. She previously worked at FleishmanHillard where she led the integrated marketing team and some of the agency’s largest global accounts including Visa, Inc. and others.

She co-founded an improv comedy theater in 2014, The Unified Scene Theater which brought classes and workshops to students and businesses across the U.S. She’s a tireless champion of diversity and inclusion, committed to directly addressing the gaps faced in the workforce and designing a more representative workforce that benefits all.

Kathy is Sicangu Lakota and Oneida, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and a recipient of the 2017 ColorComm Circle Award, the only award of its kind, recognizing women of color who are changing the face of the industry. She serves on the Advisory Council of IllumiNative, a nonprofit working for accurate and authentic portrayal of Native people. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The George Washington University, her MBA from Georgetown University and studied theater at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

Content by Kathy Baird
Events