Valkyries President Jess Smith Wins Inaugural WNBA Business Executive Leadership Award Presented by Deloitte
WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Valkyries President Jess Smith Wins Inaugural WNBA Business Executive Leadership Award Presented by Deloitte

Published on October 22, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


OAKLAND, Calif. - Golden State Valkyries President Jess Smith has won the WNBA Business Executive Leadership Award presented by Deloitte, the league announced today. The award recognizes a WNBA team president who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in driving meaningful business transformation.

In the Valkyries' inaugural season, Smith collaborated with Golden State stakeholders to build a front office staff of more than 60 employees dedicated to elevating women's sports. Under her leadership, the Valkyries became the first team in women's sports history to surpass 20,000 season ticket deposits and the first WNBA team to reach over 10,000 season tickets. The team shattered WNBA attendance records with an average of 18,064 fans per game while selling out all 23 home games during the regular and postseason.

Under Smith's leadership, Golden State executed a first-of-its-kind partnership model by securing founding partners who shared the Valkyries' vision for elevating women's sports and creating meaningful impact. Smith prioritized alignment with organizations committed to driving change as part of their investment, including CarMax, JP Morgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, OLLY, PG&E, Rakuten, Sephora, United Airlines, and Waymo. These partnerships delivered meaningful community impact, including Kaiser Permanente's "She Plays On" initiative, which donates $25 for every Valkyries jersey purchased to keep Bay Area girls in sports, and the PG&E Corporation Foundation's "Free Throws For Futures" program, which will donate $500 dollars for every free throw made to organizations supporting Bay Area youth.

On the court, the Valkyries set the WNBA expansion record with 23 wins and became the first expansion franchise to clinch a playoff berth in their inaugural season. The team earned several league awards with Head Coach Natalie Nakase being named the 2025 State Street Investment Management SPY WNBA Coach of the Year, guard Veronica Burton voted the Kia WNBA Most Improved Player as well as to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team, and forward Janelle Salaün named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team.

For this award, teams submitted candidates that excelled across four key business transformation categories including people and culture, revenue generation, stakeholder engagement, and innovation. Voting was conducted by a committee of league leadership.

For more information on the Valkyries please visit valkyries.com.

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