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Stan Kasten, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise, has joined the United States-Japan Foundation Board of Trustees.
Under Kasten's leadership, the Dodgers have become one of the most active and prominent institutions bridging the two countries, with the team roster featuring two Japanese superstars: Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. To underscore their growing trans-Pacific ties, the team will open the 2025 season in Tokyo in March with a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs.
"We are thrilled to welcome Stan to the Foundation and look forward to working with him to raise our visibility and impact in both countries," said USJF Board Chair Lawrence K. Fish. "In the context of the modern U.S.-Japan relationship, the Dodgers have become much more than a sports franchise -- they are now a symbol of the new and innovative ways that Americans and Japanese connect with each other."
“I am pleased and gratified to be invited to join the Board of Trustees of the United States-Japan Foundation,” said Kasten. “Japan is a nation that has become near and dear to me both professionally and personally, and it is deeply meaningful to me to have the opportunity to advance the worthy ambitions of this organization in philanthropy, innovation and ultimately prosperity.”
Kasten became the Dodgers' President and CEO in 2012. During his tenure, the team has won two of the past five World Series, including the 2024 championship. With more victories, postseason appearances and division titles than any other in the majors in the past 50 years, no team executive can lay claim to as much success in baseball as Kasten.
The Dodgers have also been active philanthropically, and were named ESPN’s 2020 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year for the work and community impact of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.
Kasten has been a member of numerous baseball, basketball and hockey ownership committees during his professional career and is also a former trustee of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 1999, Kasten became the first sports figure to hold the title of president of three different teams in three different major sports simultaneously, doing so with Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves, the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks and the National Hockey League's Atlanta Thrashers.
Kasten has continued to push the envelope with his leading roles on the Advisory Board of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, founded in 2023, and in the transformation of the Billie Jean King Cup women’s tennis team competition.
The Dodgers' connections to Japan have been long and deep. They ushered in the modern era of Japanese professional players entering the American major leagues by signing pioneer pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1995. The team's current manager, Dave Roberts, was born in Japan to an American father, a Marine, and a Japanese mother, and was the first manager of Asian heritage to lead his team to a World Series.
The United States-Japan Foundation was established in 1980 with a mission of improving relations between the two countries. It has since given out more than $100 million in grants and oversees the US-Japan Leadership Program with a network of 500 fellows from the two countries.
Kasten will join on the USJF board: Chair Fish, Vice Chair Kohei Itoh, Wendy Cutler, Richard E. Dyck, Lin Kobayashi, James M. Kondo, Santa Ono, Kazuyo Sejima, Donna Tanoue, and Keiko Tashiro.
For questions, please contact: info@us-jf.org
