Shape, encourage, inspire

Mark Kuhnhausen named executive director for Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County

As a boy, Mark Kuhnhausen didn't have the opportunity to join a Boys and Girls Club.

But when he was still fairly young, he had an experience with the club that changed his life.

"Originally, I was going to be a teacher,” Kuhnhausen said Thursday afternoon, sitting in his office in the Lola and Duane Hagadone Boys and Girls Club in Coeur d’Alene. "But, as what happens with a lot of us that find the Boys and Girls Club early on, it really becomes a calling."

Kuhnhausen said his original goal was to teach and coach college baseball. The Boys and Girls Club wasn't even on his radar.

He was finishing his bachelor of science in health and human kinetics at Warner Pacific College in Portland when he landed a practicum at the local club. He quickly went from being an athletic assistant to the athletic director and program director, and as a young dad at age 25, Kuhnhausen became the club director.

"I had driven by the facility many times, and I didn’t even know what the Boys and Girls Club was,” he said. “But once I got there, it really felt like a place that I should have been as a kid."

Kuhnhausen has extensive experience and connections with the Boys and Girls Club, a nonprofit that serves children and teens as a safe hub for learning, exercise, healthy behaviors, mentoring and fun.

He's worked for clubs in the Northwest and California, including being a founding director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ada County. While at the Boys and Girls Club of Napa Valley, he directed a $6.5 million campaign to construct a 15,000-square-foot facility in American Canyon that opened in June 2018.

He now owns the role of executive director for the Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County, which comprises the Coeur d'Alene site and the Jordan Johnson Center in Post Falls. He took over for Ryan Davis, who was in that position for more than 13 years and departed for a career with bankcda in April.

In their expansive work with the Boys and Girls Club, Kuhnhausen and Davis have become good friends through more than 20 years.

"I worked with Ryan way back when to raise the money to help start the Post Falls club,” Kuhnhausen said.

He said when Davis called to let him know the executive director position was about to open, he and his wife of 31 years, Maria, didn't want to miss an opportunity to move back to the Northwest. Plus, Kuhnhausen saw so much potential in North Idaho and couldn't resist being a part of the good things to come.

“It almost felt like, as soon as I landed, a huge weight off the shoulders. It just really felt like home. It was incredible," he said. "I just really love the way that Idaho and the Pacific Northwest in particular operate their clubs — more traditional type of clubs."

Kuhnhausen said the Kootenai County clubs have been built on a strong foundation, supported by tight community connections and programs that lift up local youth.

"One thing we can all agree on is there are a lot of opportunities to enhance some of these programs, namely the Youth of the Year," he said. "That's the pinnacle of our work, being able to showcase our kids and celebrate them.”

With the pandemic, he said the clubs are doing their best to maintain guidelines while still letting kids be kids. He said the clubs may extend hours once school starts.

"As every business reinvents itself, we're no different, and we're going to need more support because there's more families that are going to be in need than ever," he said. "For us, to serve more kids, it's resources and space and staffing."

The Boys and Girls Club is still planning to hold the Night in Black and White Auction and Dinner, in person, in September.

Davis said Kuhnhausen has been a friend as well as a mentor in their work with Boys and Girls Club.

"I know I wouldn't have felt comfortable passing the torch off to just anybody," Davis said. "When Mark was one of the finalists and the hiring committee said, 'I think this is the direction we want to go,' it was a breath of relief. He is someone who not only understands Boys and Girls Club, but understands what it means to engage in the community and rally everyone together.”

This story has been updated.