Krueger Back to The Farm
STANFORD, Calif. - Kim Krueger has been named an assistant coach for the Stanford women's water polo program, successfully combining a decade of cutting-edge work experience with coaching expertise spanning multiple levels.
A captain of Stanford's 2011 NCAA championship team and four-year letterwinner, Krueger arrives on The Farm after working for 10 years at the intersection of health, partnerships, technology and innovation, most recently serving as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Chief Operating Officer at Clover Health, specializing in partnerships and operations.
Highly regarded as a dynamic leader with a passion for mentoring and relationship-building, Krueger brings an intellectual curiosity, collaborative spirit and wealth of broad-based experience that aligns seamlessly with the program's team-first values.
"Kim is a brilliant coach, teacher and learner," said John Tanner, Stanford's Dunlevie Family Director of Women's Water Polo who enters his 26th season in 2023. "I am delighted to welcome Kim and the value she brings as a mentor to our students and as a leader to our team and program. Kim's experience in multiple facets of the Silicon Valley innovation and creativity ecosystem, all the while coaching club and high school polo, brings enormous value and broad perspective. We're excited to have her back at Stanford."
Krueger coached nine years with the Stanford Water Polo Foundation club team, a stretch that began while she was still playing and has included coaching at every age group level. Krueger also spent four years at the high school level, coaching at both Gunn High School and Castilleja School, where she assisted Stanford and global water polo legend Brenda Villa.
"I'm thrilled to return as an assistant coach with the women's water polo program in an entirely new iteration of the Stanford experience," said Krueger, who was named an ACWPC Honorable Mention All-American in 2011 after scoring a career-high 36 goals as a senior. "Coaching at Stanford is a chance to do something I love in a setting like no other. It's a chance to engage on every level – with the sport I love, with a group of elite young women, with a university that has every last opportunity to offer and with a program that not only consistently achieves at the highest level in the pool, but also creates a foundation for its athletes to achieve in whatever endeavors they set their sights on. I know this personally. I am one of those athletes."
A four-time ACWPC Academic All-American (2008-11) during her playing career, Krueger's wide-ranging professional experiences uniquely position her to transition into a program that embodies all aspects of scholar athleticism. Krueger began her professional career as a Research Analyst at Health 2.0, shortly after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, tracking and analyzing how funding unlocked by that legislation impacted innovation in health care. Krueger also worked in both small startups and large corporations while also spending time in venture capital at Plug and Play, an early funder of PayPal, DropBox and Google.
A native of the Bay Area, Krueger has forged a new path in each role, whether it be embracing a newly created position or combining responsibilities to form hybrid roles that suit her interests. A skilled collaborator who has worked closely with executive leadership in every role, Krueger has developed an extensive knowledge of the digital health space and a well-rounded skill set that combines strategy, negotiation, operations, data analysis and leadership.
Other career highlights for Krueger include hosting an event in the New York Times building in Manhattan; securing and meeting Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom as keynote speaker at a 2013 conference; traveling regularly to Munich, Germany, to work with partner Roche Pharmaceuticals; launching an innovation platform with The Cleveland Clinic and partnering closely on its success; and participating in a virtual bell-ringing ceremony when Clover Health was listed on the Nasdaq.
Krueger's international playing experience includes representing the US at the 2006 Junior Pan American Games in Montreal and 2007 Junior World Championships in Porto, as well as a stint with Spanish First Division team Universidad Navarra 9801 in 2011-2012.
Krueger graduated with a degree in human biology from Stanford in 2011.