Kwanza Jones
Principal Owner
Kwanza Jones is an investor, entrepreneur, executive and former NCAA Division I athlete who serves as a Principal Owner of the San Diego Padres. Together with her husband and business partner, José E. Feliciano, Jones jointly leads the Padres ownership group, bringing a long-term approach to ownership grounded in ambition, disciplined investment and a belief in the power of sports to connect people and communities. She is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative, the private single family office she and Feliciano established in 2014.
As CEO, Jones leads the Initiative’s strategy, governance and long-horizon investment activities across sports, media, private markets and mission-aligned platforms. Her approach connects capital, culture and community to create opportunity and build for the long term.
Her career has never followed a conventional or singular path. Jones began her professional career in law and dispute resolution and served as an adjunct professor at New York University, where she taught negotiation. She went on to build businesses in media and entertainment and establish herself as a recording and performing artist before expanding her work across investing, philanthropy, sports and cultural initiatives. Rather than separate these disciplines, Jones has consistently applied lessons from one arena to another, combining investment discipline, creativity and an understanding of how people and institutions connect.
Jones is also Founder and CEO of SUPERCHARGED by Kwanza Jones, which brings together her work across media, culture, community and institutional partnerships. Through content, creative production, live experiences and cultural collaborations, SUPERCHARGED focuses on moving people from inspiration to action and expanding access and opportunity. It reflects an approach Jones has followed throughout her career: start with people and communities, build authentic engagement, and use culture, capital and scale to extend the impact.
A lifelong athlete, Jones views sports as both competition and a powerful way to bring people together. Beyond the Padres, Jones and Feliciano are minority investors in the Minnesota Timberwolves and have invested across the sports ecosystem through Dyal HomeCourt Partners, Arctos Sports Partners, Monarch Collective and Project Level, including investments supporting the continued growth of women’s sports.
As a Principal Owner, Jones is committed to building an enduring Padres organization capable of competing for championships year after year, with the ultimate goal of bringing a World Series championship to San Diego. She is equally focused on deepening the Club’s relationship with its fans and extending the reach of a franchise deeply rooted in San Diego and connected to a global community.
Jones has committed significant resources to education, entrepreneurship and expanding access and opportunity. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Apollo Theater and the Board of Advisors of UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center and previously served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Bennett College.
Jones earned a B.A. from Princeton University, a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law.