Jordan Brand Exec Tapped As President Of Business Operations For Detroit Pistons

Melanie Harris, the former vice president and general manager of Nike’s Jordan Brand, was named the Detroit Pistons president of Business Operations on Sept. 17.

According to the Detroit News, Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement that he is excited about the addition of Harris to the team’s business operations unit. 

“During this critical offseason, we have expanded our executive team with top leadership talent on both the basketball and business sides of our organization,” Gores said. “Our business-side team has consistently outperformed challenging circumstances, and I’m excited to add Melanie’s capabilities and leadership to the mix.”

Gores continued, “Having spent time with Melanie, she is an experienced leader and innovative executive who will invigorate our business operations and bring a fresh perspective on how we engage our community of fans — both locally and nationally.”

Before she took on an expanded role at Jordan Brand North America, she served its parent company Nike as its vice president of Strategy and Development. According to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears, Harris was also a member of Nike’s Black Community Taskforce. Ahead of these roles at Nike and Jordan Brand, she was a partner at Bain & Company for nine years, focusing on advising national companies on customer experience, digital marketing, transformation, and agile performance improvement. In addition to these duties, she also served as the head of the company’s Social Impact and Diversity and Inclusion efforts, where she led social impact projects for Bain & Company. Harris also holds degrees from Yale and Harvard University. 

Pistons Vice-Chairman Arn Tellem, who will be Harris’ direct supervisor, briefly described her responsibilities in his own statement, “Melanie shares our core values of hard work and commitment to the community. She’s a collaborative leader who will support our current team while bringing new experiences and ideas for engagement with business partners, ticket holders, and fans.”

In a statement, Harris said she is excited to help bring success to the Pistons. “Detroit is a fantastic sports town and as the organization grows, there is a great opportunity for building business momentum and engagement,” Harris said. “I look forward to advancing the club’s success both on and off the floor.”

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