NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Kim Davis, senior executive vice president of social image, growth initiatives and legislative affairs at the National Hockey League, sat down with 1010 WINS anchor Larry Mullins to discuss her work shifting the culture within hockey.
Davis met NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman nearly seven years ago when she was tasked with consulting the league on how to make marketing assets more effective. While she said that Bettman “didn’t love” her recommendations initially, he kept them in mind and a few months later asked her to help him move the sport forward.
“My greatest impact thus far has been shifting the mindset of the owners from a mindset of thinking that people of color are charitable, versus thinking about people of color through the lens of growth,” Davis said.
Photo credit Courtesy of Kim Davis
Her job at the NHL focuses on attracting, developing and retaining fans—particulatly those from multi-cultural audiences—through culture, youth participation and social impact initiatives. Davis also serves as president of the NHL Foundation, which she said works to “[use] hockey to build stronger, more vibrant communities.”
Among the many accolades of her 40-year career in corporate America, Davis was recognized as #1 on Sportsnet’s list of 25 Most Powerful Women in Sports, as part of Hockey News’ 2020-2023 “Top 100” Most Influential Leaders in the Sport and was honored in Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business.”
Davis said that the focus of her work is to address what she calls “fans in waiting” across all intersections—race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation—by making the sport culturally available to those who wish to consume it or participate in it.
Photo credit 1010 WINS
Speaking to Mullins, she said that her work “[Starts] with kids on the ice all the way through programs that make our stadiums more available and safer for folks that look like you and I, and everything in between. It’s a real change effort.”
Despite her undeniable impact on the the NHL, Davis said that her ambition is to help pave the way for young leaders to expand the sport even further, making it hockey available and safe for lovers of the sport, like her 4-year-old grandson.
“I do not aspire to any greater height than to be a role model for, and a mentor and sponsor of the next generation so that they are in a place to take this work to another level,” Davis said.
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