April 14, 2016 – The National Nordic Foundation announced today, the hire of Hennie Kashiwa as Executive Director. The Steamboat Springs, Colorado native assumes the leadership role in the National Nordic Foundation on May 1st and will work in tandem with outgoing director James Southam to ensure a smooth transition. Kashiwa comes to the NNF after a stint in retail management at Boulder Nordic Sport and coaching at the University of Denver. Hennie lives in Boulder with his wife Sonya and his daughter, Heidi. (They are expecting a second daughter in June). We catch up with Hennie on his thoughts for the future of the NNF.

Congratulations on the new gig. What prompted you to apply and what’s your vision for the NNF moving forward?
Hennie Kashiwa: Thanks, it’s very exciting. I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for what the NNF has been able to accomplish over the last several years and applied to see if I could be of use to the cause. Skiing has done so much for me over the years, I really was looking for an opportunity to give back in a significant way.

Looking forward, I would like to see the NNF continue to expand its scope beyond elite athletes.

The NNF has been growing consistently in the last five years and has become a major source of funding development as a result. Do you see any changes on the horizon as the executive director and what are your priorities coming into the organization?
HK: I don’t see any significant changes on the horizon but rather opportunities for growth. As more and more funding becomes available from the generosity of donors and sponsors, there will be ways of branching out to benefit more and more skiers.

You’ve been on the collegiate side of skiing, the retail side of skiing; do you have concerns coming into an organization that’s very junior and developing-U23 based?
HK: I agree that I do have some learning to do when it comes to the junior and U23 side of things; it’s been a while since I was a junior. I see my role coming into the NNF as supporting those who have dedicated themselves to junior and U23 skiing. I want to be the guy doing the legwork so that these individuals can spend more time focusing on what they do best.

That being said, I’m very much looking forward to becoming fully immersed in a part of the sport that I’ve been away from for quite some time.

What organizations do you see doing things right? How do you hope to model the NNF?
HK: This is an interesting question as I’m not aware of other sports that are in the same situation as US Nordic skiing-it makes it hard to draw a direct comparison.

Looking forward, since we’re discussing ways that the NNF could grow in the future, I would have to mention The First Tee, a youth program that teaches life lessons through the sport of golf. It has always been my experience that participating in sport has benefits in nearly every arena of life.

The First Tee has succeeded not only by reaching and impacting over 10.5 million kids, but they also have over 19,000 active volunteers and some big names on their list of sponsors. Their success in engaging the community and sponsors comes from the belief that sport really can make a tremendous, life-long impact on kids.

I look to The First Tee not because of their exact model but rather because their cause is ultimately quite similar. I hope that we can inspire young athletes to participate the Nordic skiing because I strongly believe that the experience will be a positive force throughout their lifetimes. I also think that there are tremendous benefits to engaging our entire Nordic community to stand together behind our skiers (it’ll probably be pretty fun, too).

Any other insights or anything you’d like to add?
HK: I am humbled and honored to be entrusted with this position. I know that James Southam has put a huge amount of work and passion into the NNF and I hope that I can help to carry on his good work. I think that the results of his time with the organization are quite clear and very impressive.
It’s also exciting to be working with the NNF Board of Directors, a very impressive group of individuals that I know love our sport as much as I do.