Chiené Joy Jones

For Chiené Joy Jones [she/her], basketball was always bigger than sport. From the games at Hoover Park during her childhood in Jamaica, Queens, to her years in CYO and AAU, up through her time as a student-athlete at NYU, Jones realized that basketball taught all the skills necessary for a successful life—resilience, confidence, and character. But as Jones began spending time on the other side of the ball—as a coach and mentor—she was frustrated to see how few opportunities there were for girls, specifically, to thrive and grow through basketball.

So in 2017, while coaching with the NYC Gauchos (a renowned basketball club in the Bronx) Jones started Grow Our Game, a free program where girls between 4 and 18 can learn (and learn through) basketball. Her initial goals were modest. “We started with six of our Gauchos,” she says, admitting that she didn’t intend for it to become a large scale venture. But word got around. City parents started seeking Jones out. And when, in 2020, Jones was named the Junior Knicks Coach of the Year, her six-girl idea exploded. “We were actually growing during the pandemic,” she says. “That’s when I realized, you can’t fight your calling.”

Today, Grow Our Game serves nearly 300 girls from the city and surrounding areas. Jones has been featured in several high-profile Nike campaigns, and she’s made major media appearances, including on the Today Show and MSG networks. And even as she holds down a full-time job as an elementary-school teacher, Jones continues to grow her changemaking idea, not for its own sake, but for the sake of the girls it serves. “I know where these girls come from,” she says. “We are ending generational poverty through the power of sport. That’s a lot bigger than the game itself.”