The management shuffle continues at Nike as the company announced a pair of leadership changes aimed at building momentum in key markets, especially China where it has struggled.
César Garcia will become the company’s vice president and general manager overseeing Europe, Middle East, Africa while Cathy Sparks take the role of vice president and general manager of Greater China.
The moves were announced by Nike CEO Elliott Hill on Tuesday.
“In recent months, the Senior Leadership Team has benefited from having our Geography VP/GMs at the table helping us move faster and bringing us closer to athletes in both countries and marketplaces around the world,” Hill said. “As we continue to drive our Win Now actions and stand up our Sport Offense, I’d like to share several important leadership changes across three of our Geo VP/GM roles.”
Garcia replaces Carl Grebert, who will retire after nearly 30 years at Nike while Sparks takes over for Angela Dong who will be stepping down from the company on March 31 after more than 20 years at the brand.
“Carl shared his thinking with me some time ago, and I’m deeply grateful he helped guide us through my first year and thoughtfully worked with us to identify his successor,” Hill said. “To say Carl is beloved is an understatement. But more than that, his career and leadership are deeply inspiring.”
Meanwhile, Cristin Campbell, who is currently the vice president of the company’s Asia Pacific and Latin America team, will shift to the interim vice president and general manager role for the same regions but also join the senior leadership team. She has been with Nike for 15 years in several positions including stints at the women’s division and at Jordan.
The latest changes in leadership at Nike comes weeks after Hill appointed Grebert and Dong to initially lead two of its four geographic regions, while cutting the chief technology officer and chief commercial officer roles and shifted the direct-to-consumer function to the guidance of the the company’s head of finance back in December. Reducing layers of management have also been part of Hill’s turnaround effort.
Hill has made sweeping changes since returning to lead Nike in late 2024 after spending 32 years with the company in various roles before retiring in 2020.
And rebounding in China will be a priority after the company’s 2026 second quarter fiscal year report in December indicated that performance in the region was down for the sixth straight quarter.
“Nike is in the middle innings of our comeback,” Hill said in the report. “We are making progress in the areas we prioritized first and remain confident in the actions we’re taking to drive the long-term growth and profitability of our brands.
