Eastern Montana Native Honored With International Award From Schwab

By Bill Vander Weele

Sam McCracken, who grew up in Oswego, has received an international honor for his work of helping Native Americans.

McCracken, general manager of Nike N7, was selected the Social Intrapreneur of the Year. Corporate Social Intrapreneurs, as defined by the Schwab Foundation, are leaders in the corporate world who drive the development of new products, initiatives, services or business models that address societal and environmental challenges.

“It is an honor and I am excited to see how this platform can help elevate the voices of the Indigenous community so we can go from the margins to the mainstream,” Mc-Cracken said.

Prairie Bighorn-Blount, executive director of the American Indigenous Business Leaders, noted that Mc-Cracken is one of her mentors and that he has a huge heart for the youth of the Fort Peck Reservation.

“Sam has always invested in Indian Country and believes in our native youth. His story has inspired me and countless others to think about how we can give back to our communities in unique and impactful ways,” Bighorn-Blount said. “I am happy to see his hard work get the global recognition it deserves.”

A member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes from the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation, McCracken began his Nike tenure in 1997 at Nike’s Wilsonville distribution center. He used his experience and passion to revitalize the Native American Employee Network. McCracken developed a business plan that targeted indigenous communities with the goal of improving health and wellness through physical activity.

He developed the Nike Air Native N7 shoe and the N7 retail collection. The N7 fund is now a part of the Until We All Win Portfolio. For more than a decade, the project has provided grants to organizations that serve the indigenous community. The fund has created accessed to sport, health and wellness, education and advocacy in these communities.

He has also driven 25 unique product collections and brand stories for the N7 product line.

He was the Bill Bowerman award winner in 2004 and was appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Advisory Council on Indian Education.

McCracken is the first Native American to receive this honor. He was presented the award during a virtual ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 18.

“The Social Innovators of the Year 2022 represent a new ecosystem of leaders who are driving change and shifting organizations and systems towards a more just, inclusive, sustainable future,” said Hilde Schwab, co-founder and chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

The Schwab Foundation’s unique community of social innovators dates back more than two decades to 1998 when Hilde Schwab, together with her husband Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, created the foundation to support a new model for social change, combining often-overlooked values of mission, compassion and dedication with the best business principles on the planet to serve the most disadvantaged people on earth and build a better society.