Making a splash, Nash finds calling through social entrepreneurship

Each time Alexandra Nash ’06 ’08 embarks on a new endeavor, she asks herself, “How can I help others?” That philanthropic spirit serves as a north star guiding the former Aggie swimmer through her professional life as a social entrepreneur.

“That’s always been my main cause,” says Nash, who lives in Sweden, her native country. “I’ve always wanted to help people in some way.”

Nash came to NMSU in 2002 on a swimming scholarship and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. After working briefly in Phoenix and San Francisco, she returned to NMSU to pursue an MBA. At 28, she took over her father’s technology firm in Sweden after returning from her seven-year stint in America. But she longed to create a business of her own.

“At the end of the day, it was my dad’s idea,” she says, “and I started dreaming up other things. I’ve always had this dream of helping others.”

In 2015, Nash zeroed-in on an idea that seemed like a natural fit.

“One day, I sat in the car, and I had a water bottle that was heavy and clunky, and it spilled water all over me,” she says. “I was so irritated, and then I discovered it wasn’t as ecofriendly as I was led to believe.”

That’s when she and her husband, Alexander Nash, a former professional rugby player, decided to develop a better, truly environmentally friendly water bottle – and their company, Yuhme, was born.

Within a year, the couple’s water bottle, made entirely of sugarcane, hit the market. They launched a partnership with Water for Good, an American organization dedicated to providing clean water to the Central African Republic. With every water bottle purchase, Yuhme donated funds to Water for Good to develop and maintain water wells in the war-torn region, providing clean, safe water for generations.

After selling Yuhme in 2020, Nash devotes most of her time to her coaching and consulting company, Holistic Capabilities. She’s also pursuing a Ph.D. in social entrepreneurship, which is the subject of her yet-to-be-published children’s book.

Through it all, she remains grateful for the support she received from the NMSU community.

“NMSU gave me a foundation,” she says. “I still stay in contact with professors, athletics staff and my friends from the swim team. It’s been ages since I graduated, but all these people still care, and we all support each other.”