Michele Kang Named ESPN’s Sports Philanthropist of the Year Honoree
The 11th annual Sports Humanitarian Awards takes place the evening before the ESPYS as part of ESPYs Week on Tuesday, July 15When it comes to ensuring the sustainable success of women’s soccer, it’s important to have thoughtful, generous and enterprising champions of the sport. Michele Kang has proven to be that kind of revolutionary force, through her investment and her advocacy, and will be recognized as such as this year’s Sports Philanthropist of the Year Honoree at the Sports Humanitarian Awards as part of ESPN’s ESPYs Week.
The Sports Philanthropist of the Year Award celebrates an individual creating measurable social change through sports using a comprehensive philanthropic funding strategy.
The American businesswoman, investor and philanthropist is well-known for her trailblazing contributions in women’s sports, especially soccer. In 2022, Kang became the first woman of color to own a team in the National Women’s Soccer League when she acquired the Washington Spirit. The next year, she expanded her reach to Europe by becoming the majority owner of OL Lyonnes in France and the London City Lionesses in the England.
Kang has made multiple significant investments in women’s sports, including a historic $30 million, five-year pledge to U.S. Soccer to advance player development, coaching pathways and leadership opportunities. In 2025, she announced the integration of her Kynisca Innovation Hub — a science-backed platform to optimize female athlete training — into U.S. Soccer’s Soccer Forward Foundation, increasing her total investment in the Federation to $55 million and further cementing her commitment to equity in sport.
“For women’s soccer to continue to flourish and take the sport to the next level, all the foundational blocks, all the key elements of the ecosystem need to be addressed and invested in,” she said.“The professional league alone, or the players or the teams alone, will not get us there. We have to make sure the key elements, every level of the pyramid, is there and has a solid and strong foundation. I’m really happy to be part of these initiatives and efforts that U.S. Soccer has been creating and operating. These are very important elements to continue to push women’s soccer to the next level.”
Kang’s approach to women’s and girls’ sports is mindful and intentional – echoing, in some ways, how Emma Hayes describes her own vision and objectives as head coach of the United States Women’s National Team. In the recent episode of the U.S. Soccer Podcast released June 25, Hayes described her desire to lead through a female lens. This applies to all sorts of areas in her role as a manager – from how players rest and recover to how she instructs.
Though she plays a different role in the sport, Kang’s philosophy looks at women’s soccer through a female lens. She believes the smallest details are important and worth careful consideration.
“The very first things that I learned was that we’re training women as if they’re small men," Kang said. "We have very different biologies – hormones, menstruations, all those things. We have to fix that because at the end of the day, we want to make sure that our players at are their best conditions so they can give 110%, which means, in turn, we’re going to be able to produce the best and most competitive product.”
Before jumping into the sports world, Kang was first a successful businesswoman in the field of healthcare IT. She founded the company Cognosante in 2008 to revitalize the U.S. healthcare system.
Her work in that field taught her to value all areas of an endeavor. Kang speaks often about making sure all the different pieces of the product – coaching, training methodologies, refereeing – need to be strong for the sport to maintain momentum.
“Any particular business or industry can’t be successful just focusing on one part of the value chain. There needs to be all the elements present,” she said. “Even though you may take up only one part of the entire value chain... the other components of the ecosystem need to be there.”
In 2024, Kang launched Kynisca, the world’s first multi-team global organization focused on professionalizing women’s football and demonstrating its commercial and cultural potential.The creation of such an organization proves Kang’s dedication to women’s sports not only on the national level but all over the globe. And her philanthropy is beginning to grow more than just soccer. Her investments includes a $4 million, four-year commitment to support the USA Women’s Rugby Sevens team.
At the domestic level, Kang is a leader in women’s soccer. When speaking about NWSL owners, many of whom joined during the same two-and-a-half-year window, she explains there is support across the board, and that the owners invest with intention and discernment to lead the league to sustained success.
“We all came in specifically to invest and grow this sport,” she said. “We have been doing that, so the results are pretty spectacular in terms of viewership growing, the attendance growing, sponsorship and all the above.”
With the determined support of owners like Kang, the NWSL is performing better than ever. Last year, the league saw what Front Office Sports calls, “skyrocketing franchise valuations, record-breaking attendance and growing sponsorships.” The league is adding new teams, including the most recent additions in Boston and Denver, which will both join the other 14 franchises in 2026. Not only that, but viewership has never been higher. The 2024 NWSL Championship match between top-ranked Orlando Pride and Kang’s Washington Spirit set an all-time ratings record for viewership, proving that everyone does, in fact, watch women’s sports.
“I felt that was about time we pay attention to it,” Kang said.“Otherwise, collectively, we’re not going to be able to maintain this momentum, let alone, improving and creating even bigger momentum for all of us.”
The 11th annual Sports Humanitarian Awards takes place the evening before the ESPYs as part of ESPYsWeek on Tuesday, July 15 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, Calif. and will be featured during the 2025 ESPYS, which airs live on Wednesday, July 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
