Cheryl McKissack Daniel, civil engineer, has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of the design and construction industry including major project work in commercial, healthcare, education, and transportation sectors. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Cheryl comes from a long lineage of architects and builders that began with an enslaved Ashanti ancestor in 1790.
Cheryl’s grandfather, Moses McKissack, founded the family business in 1905. Her father, William DeBerry McKissack took over in 1968, and her mother Leatrice Buchanan McKissack grew the business after her husband died. Today, Cheryl represents the fifth generation of the McKissack family’s century old business, McKissack & McKissack, the oldest minority and woman-owned design and construction firm in the nation.
McKissack provides construction management, program management and consulting services for various project types throughout the East Coast and the United States. The firm’s primary focus is on infrastructure, transit, healthcare and education. The McKissack family of services and areas of expertise extends well beyond traditional A/E/C disciplines, broadly supporting client needs related to their facilities. Over the years, Cheryl has built upon the success of her firm’s fore parents by fostering long lasting relationships and by providing innovative solutions to complex projects. Her success stems from her unique ability to listen, ask the right questions, lead via expertise, and preparedness.
Each project her firm undertakes, Cheryl brings capabilities drawn from her staff of architects, engineers, and construction professionals. Her company currently employs over 150 employees and has contracted more than $50 billion dollars in construction over the past decade. Within McKissack, clients find a mastery of talent blended with commitment, resources, and implementation skills, all under the leadership of Cheryl McKissack.
As President and CEO, Cheryl serves as Project Executive on all of her firm’s high-profile projects. In this capacity she provides executive leadership and ensures that diversity is implemented during each phase of a project or program. Her skills include proficiency in estimating, scheduling, design review, document control, construction inspection, and developing and implementing quality assurance/quality control programs.
McKissack is involved with some of New York’s largest projects including: The New Terminal One at JFK International Airport; LGA Central Terminal Building Redevelopment; Coney Island Hospital Campus Renovation; Harlem Hospital Center Modernization; NYC Economic Development Corporation Hunts Point Cooperative Market, Fulton Fish Market, and MART125 Cultural Center projects; Atlantic Yards (Pacific Park) LIRR Yard Relocation; Columbia University Manhattanville Expansion; Henry J. Carter Specialty Hospital & Skilled Nursing Facility and The Studio Museum in Harlem. McKissack also serves as the MTA Independent Engineer Consultant overseeing the Capital Construction Program of the nation’s largest transportation system.
Cheryl serves on numerous, corporate, charitable and community boards. As a board member, Cheryl focuses on strategic planning as part of good governance. She believes strategic planning is a critical part to a board’s mission and formulating good strategy ensures long-term value creation, building an ethical culture and managing risk.
Cheryl has been honored as a “Hero of Liberty” for her support of humanitarian initiatives and for promoting the responsibilities of a free and diverse America. She earned both a bachelor and master’s degree in civil engineering from Howard University and graduate course work Columbia University in Civil engineering.
Larry Miller is the Chairman of the Jordan Brand Advisory Board, a division of Nike Inc. He has garnered international respect for his reputation of being an inspirational leader who understands how to build innovative, cultural and premium businesses in the world of sport and lifestyle establishing the standard for athletic luxury footwear and apparel.
Miller was named President of the Jordan Brand for the second time on July 9, 2012. In his capacity as President, Miller is responsible for overseeing the operations of the $3 Billion sports performance and lifestyle brand while working closely with Nike Inc. global leadership and Michael Jordan to drive its business objectives globally.
Prior to joining the Jordan Brand in 2012, Miller served as President and Alternate Governor of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. As President of the Trail Blazers, he was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s business and basketball activities, and operation of the Rose Quarter facilities. Miller joined the Trail Blazers in June 2007 and under his guidance the team made three consecutive trips to the postseason while selling out 159 straight games. During the 2010-11 season, the franchise celebrated an 86% season ticket retention rate, and more than 11,000 full season tickets, placing the organization fifth in the NBA. Under Miller’s leadership, the Trail Blazers became the first American sports franchise to achieve Gold LEED status for an existing arena, earning the 2009 PRISM award.
Miller originally joined the Nike team in 1997 as Vice President of the U.S. Apparel division. He then served as Vice President and General Manager of Nike Basketball, where he was responsible for developing and executing strategies that centered on the Jordan Brand, Nike Basketball and Converse. He then became President of the Jordan Brand for the first time from 1999-2006, as Miller led the brand through a period of strong growth as it expanded such product offerings as Women’s apparel and grow its portfolio of Team Jordan athletes.
Before joining Nike, Miller served as President for Jantzen, Inc. He also served as a Manager for Kraft General Foods, Assistant Controller at Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., and held various positions with Campbell Soup molding his background as one of the most influential corporate leaders in an evolving lifestyle industry.
Miller makes Portland his home, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Self Enhancement Inc. (“SEI”), the Oregon Business Council, Oregon Sports Authority, and is a member of the Portland Mayor’s Economic Development Cabinet. He is a passionate advocate for education and mentorship and was previously involved with the Urban League and Junior Achievement.
Miller earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Temple University in 1982, and a master’s degree in business from LaSalle University in 1985. He graduated from the Urban League Leadership Institute in 1987.
His memoir, JUMP, My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom was published by William Morrow/ Harper Collins in 2022. Co-authored with his daughter Laila Lacy, JUMP details Miller's ascent from the streets of West Philadelphia to some of the highest distinctions of the corporate world.
A 23 year professional with Deloitte, Michele serves as the National Operations Leader for the US firm. In this role, Michele sets the strategic direction of office operations across more than 100 locations in the US and India. Michele leads a team of more than 1,900 professionals, implementing and executing on strategies that will maximize the use of technology to ensure optimal and efficient operational support in Deloitte offices.
Prior to the National Operations role, Michele was appointed as the first Global Chief Procurement Officer for the firm in June 2016. In this role, Michele leveraged the collective buying power of 10 member firms across 26 countries with more than $5B in spend, managing a team of 160 professionals across the globe.
In addition to her previous role as Global Chief Procurement Officer, Michele has held other positions at Deloitte including Director of Regional Operations (East Region) as well as Procurement Director (US Firm). Prior to joining the Consulting practice of Deloitte, Michele was a Vice President in the Strategic Sourcing Group at Bank One Corporation (now JP Morgan Chase).
Michele holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Arkansas University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Wayne State University.
Melanie Harris is the President of Business Operations for the Detroit Pistions, responsible for leading the organization’s business lines, expanding revenue opportunities and driving engagement with partners, sponsors, ticketholders and fans.
Ms. Harris most recently 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 US and Canada. She also served on Nike, Inc.’s Black Community Commitment taskforce.
Before taking leadership of Jordan Brand in North America, Ms. 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.
Prior to joining Nike, Inc., Ms. Harris was a partner at management consulting firm Bain & Company for nearly 10 years (2010-19) advising multi-national companies on customer experience, digital marketing, transformation, agile and performance improvement. Ms. Harris 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, she was the local and regional senior sponsor and leader within Bain's black affinity group and led efforts around recruiting and retention of black and female business talent. She has also held roles in private label product development at Macy’s Merchandising Group and in store operations at Abercrombie & Fitch.
Ms. Harris is a native of New York, NY and graduated from Yale University and Harvard Business School.