Kang (far right) at President Joe Biden's signing of an executive order on advancing women's health research and innovation, March 18, 2024, in the East Room of the White House
Yongmee Michele Kang[1][2] (born June 1959)[2] is an American businesswoman, philanthropist, investor, and owner of multiple professional sports teams. She is the founder and former CEO of Kynisca Sports International, an umbrella company for her multi-club ownership,[3] and founded and was CEO of Cognosante, a medical technology company,[4] and Cognosante Ventures, a venture capital firm.[1]
Kang was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States on her own as a student.[8] She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in public and private management from the Yale School of Management.[8][9]
The problem was that I have never been very good at accepting what I “should” or “should not” do, especially when it came to what a woman can or cannot do. With my father’s reinforcement, I believed I could do anything a boy could do. I wanted something different from the future than what was expected of me.
Kang was a partner with Ernst & Young specializing in the high-tech and telecommunications industries.[11] She joined Northrop Grumman in 2000 as vice president of their e-Business unit. She later worked as vice president and deputy general manager of the Global Information Technology Division. In 2003, she became vice president of their Health & Science Solutions unit.[11]
Cognosante
In 2008, Kang founded Cognosante "to disrupt and challenge the status quo in the U.S. healthcare system".[12] The corporation works with federal and state health agencies to "expand access to care, improve care delivery, address social determinants of health, and ensure safety and security through multi-faceted technology and customer experience (CX) solutions."[13] Kang has said that she is focused on developing a pipeline of opportunities that "will directly improve the lives of veterans, military spouses, persons with disabilities, seniors and residents in underserved communities."[14]
On April 15, 2024, Cognosante announced that it signed an agreement to be acquired by Accenture Federal Services for undisclosed financial terms. The transaction was completed in May 2024.[15]
Kynisca Sports International
On July 27, 2024, Kang announced the launch of Kynisca Sports International, Ltd., a London-based company that would serve as the umbrella group for her multi-team sports ownership and sports science efforts. The company was named after Cynisca of Sparta, the first woman to win an event in the ancient Olympic Games. The announcement claimed that the organization was the first international group dedicated to women's association football.[16] Kang also announced the launch of $50 million in seed and matching funding for the Kynisca Innovation Hub, a non-profit research initiative specialized in female sports training.[3]
In October 2024, Kang's Kynisca hired former FC Barcelona Femení sporting director and Royal Spanish Football Federation women's football head Markel Zubizarreta to be Kynisca's global sporting director, overseeing all of its component clubs.[17][18]
On October 31, 2024, Kynisca led a $2 million seed funding round for IDA Sports, a company producing cleats and turf shoes for female athletes.[19]
On December 29, 2020, Washington Spirit announced that Kang had joined the club's ownership group.[20] Later reports confirmed that the stake was 35 percent, equal to former majority owner Steve Baldwin's stake though Baldwin retained control over the team.[4] Following Spirit coach Richie Burke removing himself from coaching duties in August 2021 and subsequent media reports alleging abusive behavior by Burke toward players, Kang began pursuing majority and controlling ownership of the club.[21][22]
After a protracted negotiation process,[23][24] Baldwin and minority owner Bill Lynch agreed to sell the club to Kang.[22] Following league approvals, Kang officially became majority owner on March 30, 2022.[25][26] Kang became the first woman of color to be the majority owner of an NWSL club.[21]
On May 16, OL Groupe and Kang announced the formation of a separate entity that would be composed of her stake in the Spirit and OL Groupe's Olympique Lyon Féminin. OL Groupe would retain a 48% stake in the resulting new entity, and Kang would become the club's majority owner and CEO.[31][32][33][34][5] The transaction was approved by regulators in February 2024.[6]
In June 2022, Kang was announced as an investor in Just Women's Sports, an American media company dedicated to women's sports.[39]
Investments
On July 30, 2024, Kang announced a donation to the USA Women's Rugby Sevens team of $4 million over four years.[40][41] On November 19, she also announced a $30 million donation over five years to the United States Soccer Federation to be used specifically on funding training and talent identification camps for the federation's junior national teams, and developmental programs for female coaches and referees. The donation was the largest ever made to the federation's women's programs.[42]
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