Melanie Harris has been the President of Business Operations for the Detroit Pistons for two seasons, since joining the organization September 2024. In this role, she leads the organization’s business lines, driving growth of the Pistons brand, expanding revenue opportunities, and elevating engagement with partners, sponsors, ticketholders and fans.
Prior to joining the Pistons, Harris served as Vice President and General Manager for Nike, Inc.’s Jordan Brand North America unit, where she led a cross-functional team in driving sales, merchandising, marketing, operations, and strategy for the multi-billion-dollar business across the U.S. and Canada.
Before taking leadership of Jordan Brand in North America, Harris served as Nike, Inc.’s Vice President of Strategy and Development and was a member of Nike’s Executive Leadership Team. She spearheaded Nike’s corporate strategy teams on a global scale. She was responsible for developing enterprise plans aimed at fostering innovation, transformation, and growth. She also guided game-changing partnerships, enhanced market intelligence, and coordinated development for specific opportunities within Nike, Inc.
Harris was a partner at the management consulting firm Bain & Company where she advised multi-national companies on customer experience, digital marketing, transformation, agile and performance improvement for nearly 10 years. She also served as an internal leader in Bain’s Social Impact and Diversity & Inclusion efforts, leading in a variety of social impact projects. In addition, Harris was the local and regional senior sponsor and leader within Bain’s Black employee affinity group and led efforts around recruiting and retention of Black and female business talent. Earlier in her career, she held roles in private label product development at Macy’s Merchandising Group and in store operations at Abercrombie & Fitch.
The New York, NY native graduated from Yale University and Harvard Business School. A decorated college athlete, Harris was a four-year member of Yale’s track and field team and a two-time conference champion. Harris is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Jack and Jill of America, Inc., The Links, Incorporated and YPO.