The people behind the work
A team with deep roots across tribal leadership, sport, philanthropy, policy, and education - united by a shared commitment to Native youth.
Sam McCracken
Founder, Sam McCracken Youth Project | Founder of Nike N7 | Fort Peck Sioux & Assiniboine Tribes
Sam McCracken is a member of the Fort Peck Sioux and Assiniboine Tribes and a lifelong advocate for Native youth leadership, wellness, and opportunity. As the founder and longtime General Manager of Nike N7, Sam built one of the most impactful Native-focused initiatives in global sport, helping award more than $13 million in grants to Tribal and Native-serving organizations, reaching more than 500,000 youth across North America.
Sam led the creation of the Nike Air Native N7 shoe and the broader N7 product line, using sport, storytelling, and partnership to elevate Native communities. His work has earned the Nike Bowerman Award, the Freedom Foundation's George Washington Medal of Honor, the Schwab Foundation's Social Intrapreneur of the Year recognition, and induction into the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
Today, Sam continues that work through SMCYP, advancing physical, mental, and cultural wellness for the next generation of Native leaders.
Nikki Santos
Chief Executive Officer | Coeur d'Alene Tribe
Nikki Santos brings nearly two decades of experience advancing equity-centered policy, philanthropy, and youth leadership across nonprofit, government, and cross-sector spaces. A citizen of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe with family ties to the Yakama, Nisqually, Squaxin Island, Cowlitz, and Kalispel peoples, Nikki's leadership is rooted in community, culture, and the legacy of her ancestors — a direct descendant of Chief Spokane Garry, Chief Ignace Garry, Chief Kamayakin, and Chief Leschi.
Nikki served in the Biden-Harris Administration as a Senior Advisor at HHS, working with the Administration for Children and Families and the Administration for Native Americans on wellbeing, mental health, and tribal sovereignty. She previously served as Executive Director of the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute and has held leadership roles with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and the Indian Gaming Association.
Her work is grounded in a simple conviction: communities hold the solutions. Leadership means creating the conditions for people and youth to thrive.
Jodi McCracken
Chief Operating Officer | Sam McCracken Youth Project
Jodi McCracken has spent more than two decades building things that work - operations, partnerships, guest experiences, and teams - across some of the most demanding environments in sport, hospitality, and business. She brings to SMCYP the same disciplined execution and people-centered leadership she’s applied throughout her career, including leadership roles at Nike alongside Sam, and more than a decade building Soter Vineyards into a nationally recognized, relationship-driven brand.
As COO, Jodi brings structure and clarity to complex, fast-moving work, translating mission into operations and ensuring the organization runs with the integrity and precision this work demands. She is known for her sound judgment, her instinct for relationships, and her ability to hold a high standard without losing the human element that makes it matter.
Angelique Albert
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes | Chief Executive Officer, Native Forward Scholars Fund
Janée Kassanavoid
Comanche Nation of Oklahoma | Nike Athlete & World Athletics Championships Medalist
Governor Stephen Roe Lewis
Gila River Indian Community
Eric Sprunk
Former Chief Operating Officer, Nike