Published by Shaharban Thonikadavan
Posted on February 18, 2026
4 min readLast updated: February 18, 2026
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Image credit - Julie Sofer
Women make nearly 80% of household purchasing decisions, yet receive just 2% of venture capital funding. That imbalance is driving Chantell Preston, a seasoned healthcare executive, growth strategist, and CEO of Preston Partners, to change the narrative.
"Women are active philanthropists but hesitant investors," she says. "They dominate consumer spending, yet remain virtually absent from ownership."
With more than 25 years of leading multimillion-dollar healthcare operations, founding, scaling, and exiting multiple ventures in one of the nation's most regulated industries, Preston has had a front-row seat to the barriers women face in building wealth and influence.
As CEO of Preston Partners, she advises healthcare leaders on strategic planning, leadership development, operational transformation, and M&A, helping organizations turn complexity into clarity and growth into measurable results. She was also a founder of Mentis Neuro Health, which culminated in a private equity acquisition, and serves as a Lead Partner for Portfolia's Active Aging & Longevity Funds, supporting investments that shape the future of care.
But in all of the rooms she’s been in, she says, nowhere is that disparity more visible than in professional sports.
Among emerging leagues like League One Volleyball (LOVB), only one ownership group is majority female, the team Preston co-founded and co-owns with Jes Wolfe of Rebel Girls.
"Most women who hold stakes in professional franchises inherited them rather than acquiring them independently," she says. "For us, the message was clear: women are still largely excluded from one of the most powerful wealth-building ecosystems in the world."
Being a women's league, she and Wolf intentionally sought out women: athletes, founders, and leaders who had been doing the work but might never have received an invitation to own a pro sports team. Notable examples include World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach, #1 New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle, World Cup hero and Olympic gold medalist Brandi Chastain, 12-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin, and 3x Olympic volleyball medalist Kelsey Robinson Cook, all of whom exemplify women breaking barriers in sports ownership and leadership.
"The decision was both symbolic and strategic. Symbolically, it challenged long-standing assumptions about who belongs in ownership. Strategically, it brought investors to the table who deeply understood the athletes, the audience, and the cultural moment we're trying to shape inside women's sports and beyond."
Throughout her career, Preston noticed that being left out isn’t the only problem. The second challenge some women face is feeling guilty about earning money.
"My message to these women is the more money you make and invest, the more impact you can have," she says. "Money isn't something to feel ashamed of. It's a resource. And when women control more resources, they create more change."
Preston believes breaking that pattern requires women to rewrite the rules. "Investment isn't selfish. It's strategic. It's how you expand your capacity to lead, give, and influence."
Historically, men have relied on informal networks (country clubs, business associations, social circles) to source deals, share information, and build wealth collaboratively. Women's investment groups are now creating parallel ecosystems, designed to deliver education, exposure, and access.
"Women need financial literacy around asset classes, portfolio construction, and wealth-building strategies," Preston explains. "They need access to deal flow and collaborative investment structures that reduce risk while increasing confidence. And they need a mindset shift away from consumption and charity, and toward strategic capital deployment."
The path forward, she says, is clear: education, collaboration, and long-term thinking.
"When women approach investing through that lens," Preston says, "the most powerful shift isn't just in their portfolios. It's in their relationship with money and in their sense of agency, influence, and possibility."
Through her advocacy, keynote speaking, podcast Get Real, Get Results, and forthcoming book The Success Lie (releasing July 28, 2026), Preston hopes to accelerate that shift by helping more women step into ownership, influence, and financial leadership.
"Because when women gain control of capital, and are part of investing opportunities, they don't just change their own futures," she said, "They change the game."
Venture capital is a type of private equity financing that is provided to startups and small businesses with long-term growth potential. Investors provide capital in exchange for equity, or ownership stake, in the company.
Financial literacy is the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including personal finance management, budgeting, and investing. It empowers individuals to make informed financial decisions.
Wealth management is a comprehensive service that combines financial planning, investment management, and other financial services to help individuals manage and grow their wealth.
Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, or services to support charitable causes and improve the welfare of others. It often involves individuals or organizations contributing to social causes.
Ownership in business refers to the legal right to possess and control a business or asset. Owners have the authority to make decisions regarding the operations and profits of the business.
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