Michele Kang launches institute with U.S. Soccer to advance women’s sports research

U.S. Soccer on Tuesday announced the launch of the Kang Women’s Institute, a platform designed to accelerate advancements in women’s soccer through science, innovations and research-backed best practices.

The institute, backed by Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang, aims to better inform the training and well-being of women and girls at all levels of the sport.

The news was unveiled in Manhattan at the 2025 U.S. Soccer Summit, at the outset of a women’s soccer panel hosted by U.S. women’s national team star Kelley O’Hara. The panel included Kang, U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone and University of North Carolina researcher Dr. Abbie Smith-Ryan.

Kang’s ties to women’s soccer run deep. She has been part of the Spirit’s ownership since 2020, becoming majority owner in 2022. The club won its first championship in 2021.

It was Kang’s time at the Spirit that opened her eyes to the existing limitations on women’s professional soccer teams in the United States. This, she said, inspired her to kickstart a journey that has seen her invest roughly $55 million into U.S. Soccer for the betterment of the women’s game over the last two years.

“One team can’t really do anything until all the right components are in place, so you have to glue everything,” Kang said. “I just wanted to be the match that lights the fire. … It’s just the start. We need a lot more money. I wanted to be the catalyst, because there’s so many things that we have to work on.”

The Kang Institute has begun work on at least three key projects: conducting a comprehensive national study to assess the current and emerging needs of female players at all levels, including injury prevention, mental health, workload management, menstrual health, and the transition from youth to elite competition; co-creating a framework with help from the NWSL and United Soccer League to define best practices; and developing new tools to support female athletes’ physical and mental wellbeing and address key dropout points.

Last year, Kang pledged $30 million to increase competitive opportunities for youth players, expand talent identification and fuel professional development for players, coaches and referees. In April, Kang additionally invested $25 million to integrate her Kynisca Innovation Hub into Soccer Forward’s research initiative.

In July 2024, Kang announced the launch of Kynsica, an umbrella group for her multi-sports ownership and sports science efforts. Kang also owns Olympique Lyonnais in France and the London City Lionesses in England. Last year, she led a $2 million seed funding round for IDA Sports, a company that focuses on creating cleats and shoes for female athletes.

Kang is one of the most generous donors to U.S. Soccer in the federation’s history, according to the non-profit organization, and is responsible for the largest single donation to the women’s program. But, for the businesswoman and philanthropist, her long-term goal is for this institute to establish a framework that can be mimicked around the world.

“I want this to be available globally,” Kang said. “That’s really the motive because I want to have at least one in every continent … so that the girls growing up all around the world will say, ‘I don’t have any constraints.’”

The hopes are high for what the Kang Institute can accomplish for the women’s game, Parlow Cone told Kang on stage.

“To have research designed for female athletes, not just to have to be able to compare them to the male athletes, but to have actual research just for female athletes, to help them perform better, to recover from an injury, to stay in the game longer, and to see it every level,” Parlow Cone said. “There’s nothing like it in the world.”

Kang responded, “It’s about time, isn’t it?”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

US Women's national team, Washington Spirit, NWSL, Women's Soccer

2025 The Athletic Media Company