Shiffrin Joins Keys as Founding Champion of Kindness Wins Foundation
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Kindness Wins, a collaborative engine for kindness, announced today the addition of two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time overall World Cup champion alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin to its lineup of Champions. With the addition of Shiffrin, Kindness Wins will greatly expand its platform of influence, furthering its mission to spread kindness to the masses.
Launched in early 2020 by Founding Champion Madison Keys, Kindness Wins is a nonprofit that acts as an umbrella organization for kindness initiatives, working with professional athletes as champions to demonstrate that even in the most competitive environment, deeds and actions of generosity and compassion are possible and the outcomes are highly impactful.
With special emphasis on kindness to self, kindness to youth, and kindness to others in times of struggle, the organization is proving its importance and its impact now more than ever. Most recently, the organization launched Kindness In Crisis: an online auction led by Keys, Shiffrin, and other athletes that gave professional athletes the opportunity to auction off signed memorabilia and raise funds for COVID-19 relief.
“Following our work together on the Kindness In Crisis auction, I am thrilled that Mikaela is joining the organization as a Champion,” said Madison Keys. “Kindness Wins focuses not just on those who talk about kindness, but those who take action and put kindness into practice, and Mikaela is the embodiment of this mission. I have truly enjoyed getting to know her better in recent weeks and cannot wait to see the great things she has in store for this organization, and for society, in her role as Champion.”
Kindness Wins has started a kindness movement, using its website, kindnesswins.org, and social channels (@KindnessWinsFoundation) as a hub of kindness activity where such deeds and gestures, big or small, are shared and celebrated, inspiring society to actively be more thoughtful, considerate and compassionate.
“I’m so excited to dive into Kindness Wins with Madison,” said Mikaela Shiffrin. “I am an introvert by nature, and it has taken a lot of work just to develop any level of comfort sharing myself and my life with the world, especially on social media. I actually feel like my sport and the media have been a tool that have helped me become more comfortable with myself, but I also have seen and felt how the media and the internet can have an incredibly negative impact on peoples’ confidence and self-worth. As social media platforms grow, cyberbullying continues to escalate— people often say incredibly hurtful things while hiding behind their screen—but I do believe that the online world has the potential to be a place of positivity and support rather than a hub for cyber-bullying and we have the ability to make that transformation happen starting with this message of spreading Kindness.”
In February of 2020, Shiffrin’s world came to a screeching halt, as she suffered the loss of her father Jeff. “One of the mottos my dad lived by was ‘Be nice, think first, and have fun’—and I will take that with me throughout my entire life. My parents both instilled in me that I should treat other people who I want to be treated and, even more importantly, to hold others accountable for the way they treat those around them. For this reason and more, the Kindness Wins’ message has resonated with me. I love that this organization is structured as a collaborative engine for kindness and will provide a platform for me and other athletes to pursue our own Kindness projects within its framework. Being kind will never go out of style, and I really believe that we can have a powerful impact on society in spreading this message.”
In addition to its own platform, Kindness Wins also supports the individual kindness-related endeavors of its Champions. Working together to rally behind kindness, Kindness Wins Champions will collaboratively support their fellow champions in the specific areas each Champion supports.
“I’m looking forward to exploring and announcing my own passion projects that I will pursue with Kindness Wins,” said Shiffrin. “Meanwhile, my first official act as one of the ‘Founding Champions’ will be participating in Kindness Wins Day on May 22—a day where we will recognize and celebrate acts of kindness that we find inspiring, and I encourage everyone to participate along with us.”
Kindness Wins Day, taking place on May 22 is a movement to help change the world: one day, one post and one individual at a time. Participants are challenged to tag and recognize deeds and actions of generosity and compassion, big or small, on social media, using the hashtag #KindnessWinsDay and tagging @KindnessWinsFoundation for a chance to be featured. More information can be found at kindnesswins.org.
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About Kindness Wins
Kindness Wins is a 501©3 nonprofit that acts as a collaborative engine for kindness, with special emphasis on kindness to self, kindness to youth, and kindness to others in times of struggle. We know that through identifying and supporting champions, spreading their efforts, and supporting and elevating the efforts of organizations and individuals who meet the nonprofit’s kindness criteria, Kindness Wins amplifies the powerful impact that kindness has on society. For more, visit https://www.kindnesswins.org/ and follow Kindness Wins on Facebook (facebook.com/KindnessWinsFoundation) Twitter (@KindnessWinsFdn) and Instagram (@KindnessWinsFoundation).
About Madison Keys
25-year-old Madison Keys is a Grand Slam finalist (2017 US Open), two-time Grand Slam semifinalist (2018 Roland Garros and 2015 Australian Open), and holds five WTA titles. She achieved a career-high ranking of No. 7 in the world in October 2016 and has been consistently ranked inside the top 25 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) since early 2015.
About Mikaela Shiffrin
Double-Olympic champion, five-time World Champion, and winningest slalom skier of all-time Mikaela Shiffrin has elevated women’s ski racing globally—both on and off the mountain. At a mere 25-years-old, Mikaela has 66 World Cup victories across six disciplines to her name and is the only athlete to win in all six disciplines. In Sochi in 2014, Mikaela won Olympic gold, becoming the youngest slalom champion in history. In 2016, she broke the record for the largest win margin in slalom for women (3.07 seconds). During the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Shiffrin reached the top of the podium in the giant slalom at the Olympics, with gold in giant slalom and silver in the alpine combined. As well as being the youngest skier, male or female, to win 50 World Cup race before the age of 24, she is also the first athlete to win four successive World Championship titles in a single discipline and holds the record for wins in one season with 17 victories (shattering the previous 30-year record of 14).
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin began turning heads almost instantly when she finished top 15 in her first two NorAm Cup races.