Hisako Esaki is a design, brand, and business strategist and storyteller. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies as well as startups in the U.S. and Asia. She has 10 years of direct experience in the sports industry working at Nike and adidas, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. At Nike, she worked at global, regional, and country levels. She has remained strongly connected to the industry with more than 15 years serving clients such as The North Face, KEEN, and Columbia Sportswear—in addition to Nike and adidas—in her capacity as a consultant. She also held an executive director position in global sports with NPD. Esaki received her BA in psychology from Cornell University.

Esaki first joined the Sports Product Management program as a guest speaker in the two-day Brand and Business Innovation workshop in September 2015. Since then, she has been a mentor and coach to students in the program.