Brooke Van Roekel

Brooke Van Roekel joined the Foundation in 2014 after having spent 17 years at Nike. She brings insight-driven strategy and vision as the director of Brand Engagement to build a Culture of Health.

Shining a light on critical social and health issues has been a common thread throughout Van Roekel’s career. In her early days in advertising at Nike, she led several global ad campaigns as well as the communications work for Nike’s Community Affairs. As the leader of women’s business for Northern Europe, Van Roekel drove the business that resulted in Nike being the #1 sports brand for women across the region. She also found a way to bring a Nike event to a center for Muslim women in Amsterdam, a community often overlooked by the sports world. Upon her return to the United States, she developed the entertainment marketing strategy for Nike’s partnership with (RED)™. Her dedication to women and girls was given an outlet when she joined the Nike Foundation, which sought to alleviate poverty through a focus on adolescent girls in the developing world. Van Roekel led the work to secure funding from the World Bank for programs for girls in several African countries.

Giving back to the community extends beyond Van Roekel’s professional life. During her sabbatical from Nike, she worked with the United Nations Population Fund in Ethiopia developing content to bring to life the data for a prevention of early marriage program. Stateside, she held many Board roles, including board chair of Camp Fire Columbia, which provides after-school programming for hundreds of underserved youth across Portland, Ore. She’s also known to periodically wield power tools for Habitat for Humanity.

Van Roekel has spoken at several conferences on leadership, brand, and communications. She holds her MBA in Sustainable Business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute (now Presidio Graduate School) and her BA from Wellesley College.

Van Roekel runs to clear her mind, does yoga to center herself, and will always know the best ice cream place in any town.