Obama’s Pick for National-Service Chief Described as ‘Fiery’ and ‘Committed’

Ask nonprofit leaders about Maria Eitel, President Obama’s nominee to run the Corporation for National and Community Service, and descriptions like “fiery,” “committed,” and “energetic” tend to be the first words uttered.

But while Ms. Eitel has earned a strong reputation in her current job as president of the Nike Foundation, the charitable arm of the shoe manufacturer in Beaverton, Ore., some wonder whether her skills will translate well to the corporation, which in the coming years will oversee a huge expansion of AmeriCorps and other national-service programs.

President Obama nominated Ms. Eitel to succeed David Eisner, who stepped down as the corporation’s chief executive in November. She requires approval from the Senate before assuming the position. (A corporation spokesman said Ms. Eitel was not available to comment and would decline interview requests until she is confirmed by lawmakers.)

While she isn’t talking to reporters about what plans she may have for the corporation, people who have worked closely with her say she will energize national service and volunteer programs across the country.

“Maria just has a wonderful ability to communicate and is very fiery and passionate and visionary,” says Jennifer Buffett, who along with her husband, Peter, runs the NoVo Foundation, in New York, and sits on the Nike Foundation’s Board of Directors. “She’s such a can-do person.”

Last year Nike and NoVo together pledged $100-million to help girls in Africa and elsewhere.

Savvy Advocacy

Ms. Eitel originally served as Nike’s first vice president for corporate responsibility, helping the shoe company repair its image after being criticized for its labor practices.

In 2004, she helped form the Nike fund, and she has since become known for politely, but persistently, advocating its causes to politicians, corporate leaders, and anyone else who will listen at the World Economic Forum and other elite events.

As crucial as the money has been for philanthropic efforts like the one with the NoVo Foundation, observers say, also important has been the marketing savvy that Ms. Eitel and Nike bring to projects.

With the help of the shoe company’s advertising division, Ms. Eitel promoted the so-called girl effect, the economic and social benefits a country receives when its young women receive an education. There is an eye-catching girl-effect Web site, slick videos on You Tube, and Ms. Eitel herself wrote a blog for The Huffington Post, an online newspaper, about her charitable work.

“Maria herself has just been a fabulous champion for the girl effect,” says Susan Davis, chief executive of Brac USA, the American arm of a charity that fights poverty overseas,

Brac has received $900,000 from Nike to help young women in Tanzania and Uganda, as well as pro-bono marketing assistance from the company.

At the Corporation for National and Community Service, Ms. Davis predicts, Ms. Eitel will be an excellent recruiter of young people and will connect AmeriCorps to a “global consciousness.”

“Just imagine how powerful it’ll be for young African-American girls to have their work infused with a sense of what’s going on with African girls or girls in the Caribbean,” she says.

A ‘Square Peg’?

But some worry that given her experience in international issues, Ms. Eitel may not be a good fit for a government agency that works domestically.

“It’s kind of a square peg in a round hole, but it could work out fine” if she travels the country and gets a feel for what AmeriCorps and other service members are doing, says Leslie Lenkowsky, a former head of the corporation.

Mr. Lenkowsky, who is now a professor of public affairs and philanthropic studies at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and a regular contributor to The Chronicle‘s editorial pages, says Ms. Eitel will also need to be an excellent manager; the corporation, which has more than 530 employees, has been notoriously difficult to run.

“And that’s with a cohort of 75,000 AmeriCorps members,” he said. “If they’re going to triple that, it’ll triple the administrative issues.”

Ms. Eitel’s supporters, however, say her background in politics and the corporate world will help her with those challenges.

Before joining Nike, she was European corporate-affairs group manager at the Microsoft Corporation and held positions with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and MCI Communications Corporation. From 1989 to 1992, she served in the first Bush administration as deputy director of media relations and special assistant to the president for media affairs.

For those who have worked closely with Ms. Eitel during her tenure at the Nike Foundation, her departure will be somewhat bittersweet.

“At first, it was a little bit of a surprise, but it’s so the right thing for her to do,” Ms. Buffett says. “She’s been called to do something really fabulous, meaningful, and hugely impactful for lots of people.”