Jarvis Sam ’13 has recently been promoted to Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion for Nike, located in Portland, Oregon.
The promotion has given Sam the unique chance in which he can promote, establish programs, and build a diversity strategy for their commercial offices and their regional offices. These programs help recruit diverse talent and build a better community for the company.
“I started in strategy consulting at Deloitte working primarily with Oil & Gas and Telecommunications client partners,” Sam said. “I always knew I wanted to do more in social policy and be purposeful in my job.”
Sam’s roles soon after included helping with talent acquisition to recruit diverse talent for Google, serving as the head of diversity and inclusion for Snapchat, and becoming Director of Diversity Sourcing and Programs for Nike before being promoted to his current position.
“I would advise Rice students to explore all of the various areas of the Sport Management major,” Sam said. “There are so many different career opportunities in the industry and such a wide range of job opportunities with a Sport Management degree from Rice, more than you would think. My career path has definitely shown that.”
Living by this mantra, Sam has continually shown that through his wide array of jobs and successes within different fields of the business world.
Sam graduated from Rice University in 2013 while triple-majoring in History, Policy Studies (Law and Justice focus), and Sport Management. He is allowed the unique opportunity to utilize all three of his majors for his new position, as his success in the classroom can now be seen in his success as the Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion for Nike.
“When Jarvis was a student at Rice, it was easy to see that he was going to be a star,” Clark Haptonstall, Chair of the Department of Sport Management, said. “His presentations were the best of any student that I've ever had in one of my classes. I'm not surprised to now hear that he's making presentations in front of thousands of Nike employees at the international headquarters.”
At Rice, Sam also won the Gilbert L. Hermance Award as the top student in the department “who exhibited exemplary qualities of scholarship, leadership, character and service during his or her undergraduate experience.” He also won a National Championship while he was a member of Rice’s debate team.
Wiley Green, a junior from Dallas, Texas, is double-majoring in Sport Management and Economics.