Virginia Rustique-Petteni is the Vice President of Purpose Communications at Nike, where she leads the company’s efforts around diversity and inclusion, among other initiatives. Joining Nike Foundation in 2013, Rustique-Petteni led the vision of the Girl Declaration, an alliance of individuals and NGOs that successfully campaigned to embed girls in the 2015 development goals. She managed the Global Partnerships team and was responsible for Nike Foundation's advocacy, stakeholder relations and partner management of key NGOs, multi-laterals, and governments - all working with Nike Foundation to do things differently, and do different things, for girls.

As a child growing up in a small town in Kansas, Rustique-Petteni expressed an interest in history — particularly in the philosophy of identity. That curiosity took her to the University of Chicago, where she earned a bachelor of arts in the subject, focused on race and gender. She started her career in politics, taking on the role of special advisor for nominations at the Office of Legislative Affairs, which serves as the president’s primary liaison to Congress, during the Clinton administration. Since then, Rustique-Petteni’s resume branched out beyond history and politics: She ran her own consultancy practice, as well as introduced philanthropic initiatives for corporations, international nonprofits, global foundations and private individuals.

Throughout the course of her career, Rustique-Petteni explained that her background has served as a badge of honor of sorts, offering her some form of “strength and distinction” in rooms where she was “different” — not just because of her age and gender, but also because of her Filipino identity.

Asian Heritage, Business, Leadership, Business Leadership, Diversity, Diversity Topics, Workplace Diversity Communication, Women, Female Leadership, Empowerment, Influential Women,