Michele Kang

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Michele Kang is an American businesswoman, investor, and philanthropist. Born and raised in South Korea, Kang came to the United States as a student to pursue her advanced education. She has spent her career building businesses that challenge the status quo—and leveraging her own successes, she has focused on helping others reach their own potential.

Kang is the founder and CEO of Cognosante. A visionary in the field of health information technology, she originally founded Cognosante to disrupt the U.S. healthcare system. Under Kang’s leadership, Cognosante has grown rapidly, expanded markets, and emerged as a trusted provider of innovative technology solutions across the federal government, serving key health, military, and intelligence agencies as well as state health programs.

In 2022, Kang became the first woman of color to own a National Women’s Soccer League team: the 2021 League champions, the Washington Spirit. Kang has become a leading global advocate to create a level playing field between men and women in soccer, starting with equal pay—and she was selected as one of Sports Business Journal’s 2022 Power Players in Women’s Sports and was named to Sports Illustrated Power List 2023: 50 Most Influential Figures in Sports.

In May 2023, Kang signed an agreement with the OL Groupe to create the first-of-its-kind global multi-team women’s soccer organization. She became the majority owner and CEO of the newly formed company, making it the first ever women-owned, women-led multi-soccer organization. In December 2023, Kang further expanded her impact acquiring the London City Lionesses, the only fully independent women’s only football Club among England’s top two professional women’s leagues. A leader in advancing women’s sports around the globe, Kang received the 2023 Sports Business Journal Deal of the Year Award for her acquisition of the Washington Spirit in 2022.

Kang is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion—and she is focused on expanding opportunity to all by providing meaningful careers to those who are too often excluded from corporate America. Cognosante offers various internship and scholarship programs designed exclusively for HBCU students, first-generation college students, women in STEM and Americans with disabilities. As a result of the inclusive culture Kang has built, Cognosante is a four-time Great Place to Work-Certified Company.

In gratitude for the U.S. soldiers who helped defend her home country during the Korean War, Kang stands with American Veterans. She has been a proud supporter of the National Museum of the Marine Corps and The Chosin Few, which is a member organization of Veterans, spouses, and lineal descendants of one of the bloodiest battles of the Korean War, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. She also supports organizations that aim to eradicate homelessness among women Veterans and find employment for wounded Veterans and their caretakers.

As a long-time, art-loving philanthropist, she currently serves as a Trustee on the boards of the Washington National Opera and the Norton Museum of Art. She has also served on the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts and the Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra.

Kang has been recognized for her philanthropic work and trailblazing entrepreneurship with numerous awards. She is the recipient of the 2023 Horatio Alger Award. In 2022, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington inducted her as a Hall of Fame Laureate. She received the EY Entrepreneur of The Year® for the Washington, DC region and the U.S. Award for Services. Along with U.S. senators, high ranking government officials, and top executives of Fortune 500 companies, Kang was named an inaugural member of 100 Women Leaders in STEM in 2012 and one of the Top 100 CEO Leaders in STEM in 2016.

Kang 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.