EO Member Spotlight: Billy Henry, Founder of Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA)

Founder, president and CEO, Billy Henry and the team at Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA) help children, youth and adults with visual impairments experience and excel at more than 15 different sports and life.?

Tell us about yourself?

I was born in Montana and have been legally blind since birth. I have a condition called optic nerve hypoplasia – it’s a congenital condition where the optic nerve is underdeveloped in one or both eyes. So, what people with 2020 vision see at 200 feet, I see at 20 feet; it’s slightly worse in my right eye.?

I went to the Montana School for the Blind and then to a mainstream middle school when we moved to Vancouver (WA). Both in Montana and Vancouver I was fortunate to be around other people who were blind or visually impaired. I had a great support system in my family and at school that helped me learn to advocate for myself, to know when I needed to ask for help. When you’re disabled, you have to work a little bit harder than everyone else to achieve success. To this day, I know that really putting in hard work and dedication is the key to success.?

“When you’re disabled, you have to work a little bit harder than everyone else to achieve success.”

Why did you start your business?

I started my first organization for blind athletes in 2007 when I was just 15 years old. As a legally blind powerlifter, I noticed a lack of opportunities for visually impaired athletes, so I borrowed $50 and began inviting friends to powerlifting competitions in my parents’ house. The powerlifting competitions gave us confidence, self-esteem, friendships, and an incredible sense of community. I had a lot of people who doubted me and that was like a really big springboard for me to make sure it was successful, not only that we could do it but that we could be the best at it.?

Fast forward to today. The Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA) just celebrated its 15th year. NWABA now delivers 600+ events through 2,000 service interactions to individuals who are blind or visually impaired across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. We have about 21 team members, two offices, about 450 volunteers, and a 16-member board of directors.?A lot of things have changed over the years, but our mission has remained the same: To be a catalyst to help individuals who are blind or visually impaired reach their greatest potential in whatever they choose to do.

“The powerlifting competitions gave us confidence, self-esteem, friendships, and an incredible sense of community.”?

Is there an obstacle you faced that helped you get where you are today??

Being legally blind since birth has definitely created some challenges I’ve had to work through, but I never really looked at them as challenges because it’s all I ever knew.?

As person who is visually impaired, I had to learn things that I also had to learn as an entrepreneur: how to advocate for myself—whether it meant sitting in the front row of the classroom, asking for accessible printers or, as an entrepreneur, helping to scale an organization. Both are about hard work, being present, and focusing on a goal. For example, because I can’t drive, in the days before Lyft and Uber, I’d have to plan how to take public transportation to a critical meeting. Sometimes, I’d leave two hours early for a 30-minute meeting.?

It’s always been important for me to focus on what I need to achieve. If the straight path doesn’t work, then I find a different way. Sometimes it takes me twice as long, and sometimes there are bumps and bruises along the way, but I generally tend to get there. I find a way. I believe that you can outwork anything you're up against with the right strategy and the right intention.?

“I believe that you can outwork anything you're up against with the right strategy and the right intention.”

How else has being an EO member helped you??

Oftentimes as entrepreneurs we think that on one else is going through the business challenges we’re going through. EO is unique because it brings people together and opens doors, gives you access to a network of people who are tackling similar challenges—whether it be staffing or operations issues, cash-flow problems or business wins. EO opens up a huge network of other entrepreneurs who are constantly learning from each other. The lessons I’ve learned from others in EO have been critical to our business growth.?

“The lessons I’ve learned from others in EO have been critical to our business growth.”

Our theme this year in EO Portland is “lift others up.” How do you lift others up in your work or life??

Our mission is to provide life-changing opportunities through sports and physical activity to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Our programs help people who are blind build confidence, gain self-esteem, create friendships, develop a sense of community and gain the skills, tools and resources to achieve success in all areas of life.?

About 70% of people who are blind are unemployed, and 30% live in poverty. So, our programs try to infuse independence throughout every aspect of our program delivery model – participants are learning how to navigate public transportation to get to our events, social skills, how to engage with the greater community. We're teaching workforce readiness skills, skills that are going to help people beyond their participation with us achieve successful whatever they want to do. Our youngest participant is six months old and our oldest is in their 80s. Some people who come to us have been blind since birth; others have lost vision in their 30s, 40s or 70s. We meet everyone where they are to help them be successful, both in sports and in life.

“We meet everyone where they are to help them be successful, both in sports and in life.”

What lies ahead for NWABA??

We have a bold 10-year target we established in the heart of 2020: our vision is to serve 5,000 individuals by 2030. We’re expanding our headquarters here in Vancouver. We also plan to continue building out more offices in more communities across the northwest, to grow our team and scale programs. Our ultimate goal is to take our impact nationally, while staying focused on building quality, sustainable programs. We’re scaling quickly but also intentionally, to make sure we can truly have that life-changing impact.?

“Our vision is to serve 5,000 individuals by 2030.”

#entreprenuers?#courageousleadership

This is an interview series by?Talie Smith,?EO Board Chair for Chapter Communications,?featuring Portland EO members who lift others up through their grit, talent, and courageous entrepreneurial spirit.

Interested in learning more about Entrepreneurs' Organization?

Visit our website at?eopdx.org?to learn about us.

Get in touch with EO Membership Chairs?Augusto Carneiro?or?Allen Hardin?to learn more about becoming a member.