July 28, 2025 | Articles News Philanthropy The Pistons
Pistons President Melanie Harris: Tom Gores believes sports can be a catalyst for true community impact
LAS VEGAS – In a pair of recent speaking engagements, Detroit Pistons President of Business Operations Melanie Harris highlighted the vision of team owner Tom Gores, crediting his leadership for not only fueling the franchise’s dramatic turnaround on the court, but also for using the organization as a platform to drive change in Detroit.
From the hirings of President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon and Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff last summer which led to one of the NBA’s most impressive turnarounds in league history to the multibillion-dollar Future of Health project to youth-focused community programs, Harris made it clear: the Pistons’ resurgence is a direct result of Gores’ vision and is part of a larger gameplan to use sports as a catalyst for economic and social impact.
“That impact is not only about building fandom, it’s actually about how we are involved in the community, building courts around the city of Detroit so that kids have free basketball all summer,” Harris said at the Global Citizen NOW: Detroit event in early July.
“It’s joining our partners to invest in (New Center) where our practice facility is located, it’s coming together with our partners and investing $2.5 billion in bringing residential, health and commercial impact into that neighborhood (as part of the Future of Health development).
“This is what sports does. We have an ability to come together. It doesn’t matter where you were born, how much money you have, what language you speak. We come together to root for our Pistons, and we come together to root for the city as well.”
Harris also was a featured panelist alongside former Detroit Shock star Swin Cash at the She’s Got Time Women in Sports Summit where she discussed her journey to Detroit and Gores’ decision to hire her in September 2024.
“He took a chance on someone who had never stepped foot into the team environment in part because of what I had done, but he also has the ability to look forward and say: ‘How can we innovate?’” Harris told an audience of women sports professionals at the Encore hotel in Las Vegas.
Gores’ engagement was among several topics Harris broached over the course of the two panels. She touted the economic benefits of a sports team while also sharing insights on her journey from being a top executive with Nike to her current position with the Pistons while maintaining authenticity and a proper work-life balance.
“The only thing you know you can do better than anyone in the world is to be yourself,” Harris said in Las Vegas. “While I had some imposter syndrome early in my career, what kept me going is knowing that I was creating opportunities to bring joy into people’s lives. I can offer a unique perspective, and I represent the experience of a consumer or a fan who does share my life experience, and that’s a thing that only I can do.”
Trying to change the world
Originally founded as the Global Poverty Project in 2008, Global Citizen aims to mobilize people and works with the sectors of business, entertainment, policy, government and philanthropy to drive tangible policy change and financial investments to defeat poverty. The NOW event, which was held in Detroit for the first time, is the organization’s thought leadership summit that has featured notable leaders in various fields to collectively drive action to end extreme poverty.
Former Dallas Mavericks Governor Mark Cuban (who appeared on the panel with Harris), celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson and NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green were among the notable leaders in attendance at the four-day event. The event was held in the Hudson Building.
According to a news release, the summit aimed to spotlight efforts in Detroit to invest in people, particularly young adults. The Pistons are notable for such efforts when you consider the franchise’s investment in basketball courts and camps and the sponsorship of events like the recent partnership with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to honor the memory of hip-hop legend J Dilla. The Pistons are also sponsoring this past week’s PeacePlayers Friendship Games that will be held in Detroit.
Such engagement was top of mind when Gores made the decision to return the Pistons to downtown Detroit in 2016. The platform will only grow when the Gores-led ownership group returns the WNBA to Detroit in 2029, which will provide additional opportunities, create jobs while also bringing people to the city.
“As we continue to win, we will continue to bring more people into the area,” Harris said. “That creates infrastructure, it drives infrastructure, and it creates economic growth.”
The vision lured Harris to Detroit.
“When Tom bought the team, he said the Pistons would be a community asset,” Harris said. “When I was talking to him about coming to Detroit, that was one of the things that really sold me on it. Of course, we’re in sports, we love to compete, we love to win, but the real effort is around (community) impact.”
A space for young women professionals in sports
Cash established She’s Got Time, an organization that aims to create a diverse ecosystem of culture and resources while inspiring women in sports careers through interactive summits, storytelling and networking. The Encore hotel and casino was the host of the organization’s third annual summit.
Harris was joined by notable speakers such as Amy Trask, a CBS analyst and former Oakland Raiders CEO, former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and others at the event. NFLPA Chief Operating Officer Teri Smith joined Harris and Cash for the last session of the summit, which was titled Breaking Formation: Shifting the Power Structures in Pro Sports.
During the panel, Harris gave advice to young professionals on how to succeed in the sport world. She noted although she has a resume that lists the Pistons, Nike and a 10-year stint with management consulting firm Bain & Company, she said the most daunting barrier to success is self-doubt.
“The barriers are consistent everywhere, but a main one is self-imposed,” Harris said. “You think, ‘Do I deserve to be in this role? Have I worked hard enough? Have I done enough?’
“It can be hard to believe in yourself when there aren’t a lot of people around who look like you or have shared your experience. You have to find the confidence internally. I’m fortunate to have loving parents who told me I could do anything, and so that is something I try to instill in my children as well. That was one barrier, getting in my own way and saying, ‘I have something special to add and I deserve to be here.’”