How Zaileen Janmohamed Used Indian & Muslim Heritage To Bring Super Bowl To CA
India-West News Desk
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – When Zaileen “Z” Janmohamed walked into the room to pitch the Bay Area to NFL owners, she knew she had five minutes and a choice. She could deliver the standard presentation about stadium readiness, hotel rooms and sponsorship potential. Or she could explain who she was, where she came from, and why the Bay Area looked like her life.
She chose the latter.
“There’s normally a five minute presentation to the owners,” Janmohamed told Silicon Valley Voice. “You talk about the Bay Area, what you’re going to do to grow the game. And I’m thinking, ‘Why don’t we say something that’s about how we’re going to do it, why we want to do this.’”
One slide in her deck stood out. It was not a market analysis or an infrastructure map. It was her story. Janmohamed spoke about being the daughter of parents who immigrated from East Africa after political unrest, about growing up as an Indian woman in a male dominated sports industry, and about how the Bay Area reflected that same complexity and diversity.
“I talked about the fact that my parents are from East Africa and that I was an Indian woman working in an industry that was predominantly male,” she said. “I talked about the Bay Area being very reflective of those types of people. You could have heard a pin drop,” she told Silicon Valley Voice.
Her message was deliberate. “I think the Bay Area is a completely different region,” Janmohamed said. “We have diversity that needs to be celebrated. If the NFL wants to grow this fan base, this is the place to do that.”
When she finished, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stood up and shook her hand. “He said, ‘I don’t know if we’ve heard that type of presentation before,’” Janmohamed recalled to Silicon Valley Voice. “I don’t know if that was good or bad but we got it, we got the game, so I’m assuming it was good.”
Super Bowl LX, now concluded, became a milestone not just for the region but for Janmohamed’s career, validating a leadership style rooted in authenticity and lived experience.
That approach traces back to her childhood in Vancouver, Canada. Raised in a traditional Muslim household, Janmohamed gravitated early toward team sports rather than activities typically encouraged for girls. Soccer, basketball, volleyball and ice hockey became her classroom.
“As a child, I didn’t gravitate toward ballet or gymnastics,” she told San Jose Spotlight. “What excited me involved kicking, dribbling or spiking a ball.”
Those sports taught her more than competition. They taught confidence, critical thinking and how to push boundaries. Her parents were initially hesitant but eventually supportive. “At some point, my parents realized I had this passion,” she told San Jose Spotlight. “But the early years were me just having to find my way to do the things that I loved until I got comfortable saying, ‘This is who I am. This is what I want to do.’”
Education gave structure to that passion. Janmohamed earned her bachelor’s degree from Simon Fraser University before moving to the United States for graduate studies. She completed an MBA and a master’s degree in sport management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, building a foundation that blended business strategy with sports culture.
Her professional career spanned brand, agency and property roles across the sports and entertainment industry. Before leading the Bay Area Host Committee, she served as head of commercial development and innovation at LA28, where she worked on monetization strategies for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and helped launch the first name, image and likeness marketplace for Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Today, Janmohamed lives in San Mateo with her husband, Arif Janmohamed, a venture capitalist, and their two sons, Aydin and Ihsan. She has said representation matters deeply to her, both as a leader and as a parent.
