Kristi Yamaguchi takes a “lead by example” approach to community service. She has been president of the Always Dream Foundation for thirteen years, giving hundreds of hours of her time to benefit children in need. Through the Always Dream Foundation, Yamaguchi has produced and starred in annual fundraising events including a skating concert on ice benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. She has hosted summer camps in Hawaii for children with disabilities, made appearances and helped raise funds for the Family Giving Tree, organized annual holiday skating parties for disadvantaged kids in the Bay Area, and granted hundreds of wishes to children in the United States and Canada through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

For Yamaguchi, no act of service is too large or too small. She does everything from handing out cookies at her charity events to entertaining kids with unrehearsed dance performances. In 2004, she received the Flo Hyman Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation. Four years later, she won the Thurman Munson Award, and in 2009, she received the Strong Award from Girls Incorporated of Alameda County.

About Kristi Yamaguchi

Kristi Yamaguchi grew up in Fremont, California where she began skating at a young age. Forgoing college to pursue her Olympic dream, Yamaguchi won a gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville. Yamaguchi won two World Figure Skating Championships in 1991 and 1992 and took first place at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1992. She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2006. In May 2008, Yamaguchi was crowned champion of the popular T.V. show “Dancing with the Stars," earning the highest marks of any competitor in the six-season existence of the program.