From Luxury Real Estate to Healing on the Water: How Aloni Ford Is Redefining Women’s Empowerment Through Yachting

When Aloni Ford’s childhood home in Altadena burned down in the Eaton fires this past January, 51 years of family memories went with it. But even before that devastating loss, Ford had already begun finding healing and purpose on the water. Today, from her home in Marina Del Rey, she’s building something extraordinary: spaces where women can experience the same transformation she discovered through sailing.

Ford’s journey is anything but typical. In 2009, she was part of a team at Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills that collectively sold over $1 billion in luxury properties. She then spent nearly two decades managing championship athletes and award-winning entertainers, working her way through entertainment and sports management at the highest levels. For over 15 years, she’s managed the careers and day-to-day operations of championship athletes, most notably NBA champion and Grammy-nominated producer JaVale McGee. Her work with McGee contributed to three NBA championships and an Olympic gold medal. She’s collaborated with Fortune 500 companies, CEOs, and global brands. From 2006 to 2010, she served as a Campaign Strategist for President Barack Obama.

Through it all, Ford developed expertise in brand strategy, social and digital platforms, and business intelligence, ensuring alignment between creative output and measurable impact. But despite the glamour of those worlds, she found her most meaningful work through community, specifically through the water.

Building Community on the Water

Ford currently serves as Vice Commodore of the Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay and Ambassador of the California Yacht Club. She’s become a recognized leader within the sailing community, actively volunteering with multiple organizations and deeply committed to giving back. She teaches youth sailing activities at the California Yacht Club and volunteers with the Los Angeles Police Department and Jack & Jill of America.

In recent years, Ford has expanded her mission to focus on empowering executive women through transformational experiences that combine luxury, wellness, and authentic connection. Her goal is clear: create curated, lavish yet inclusive experiences designed to empower women and make boating more accessible and affordable for all.

Her Signature Ventures

Ford is the founder of Yacht Girls Book Club, a leadership-driven community for high-achieving women that’s relaunching in January 2026. The book club brings women together for connection, growth, and conversation in a traditionally male-dominated space. It’s designed as a space where executive women can gather on the water, combining the luxury of yachting with meaningful dialogue and community building.

She’s also the creator of Yacht Yoga, a wellness experience designed to restore balance through movement and mindfulness on the water. This healing experience meets women where wellness and the sea intersect, offering something that goes beyond typical wellness programming. Ford hosts yacht yoga every month at Naos Yachts in Marina Del Rey.

What sets Ford’s story apart isn’t just the resume. It’s the why: using leadership, luxury, and lived experience to create safe, empowering spaces for women while redefining what access to boating and yachting can look like.

A Trailblazing Career

Ford is a trailblazing entertainment executive, filmmaker, and women’s empowerment visionary whose multifaceted career blends sports, media, wellness, and community leadership. For over 15 years, she has managed championship professional athletes while serving as an executive producer, shaping narratives that inspire, elevate, and connect.

Her background spans luxury real estate, entertainment, and sports management. She is responsible for overseeing her clients’ brand strategy, social and digital platforms, and business intelligence, ensuring alignment between creative output and measurable impact.

She earned a degree in Business with a minor in Film from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles. As an executive producer and filmmaker, she’s shaped narratives that matter. Her years managing high-profile clients gave her deep insight into what it takes to build and sustain a brand at the highest level.

The Mayor of Marina Del Rey

Originally from Altadena, California, Ford has become a cultural connector in Marina Del Rey, where her events, leadership, and community-building efforts have earned her the nickname “Mayor of Marina Del Rey.” Through her work with the Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay, California Yacht Club, LAPD, and Jack & Jill of America, she’s shown what leadership looks like when it’s grounded in service and community.

Her volunteer work extends beyond the water. She actively teaches youth sailing activities, helping to ensure that the next generation has access to experiences that can transform their lives the way sailing transformed hers.

Resilience Through Loss

The loss of her childhood home of 51 years in the Eaton fires represents a profound personal tragedy. All her childhood memories and the family home she grew up in were destroyed. But Ford’s commitment to the community she’s built through sailing remains unwavering. The work continues.

Looking Forward

As Yacht Girls Book Club prepares to relaunch in January 2026, Ford continues to expand her vision for what’s possible when women have access to spaces that empower them. Her story is one of reinvention and purpose, using every experience from luxury real estate to entertainment management to build something meaningful.

Through her work, Ford continues to redefine leadership, empowerment, and lifestyle on land and at sea. She’s proving that the most transformative spaces are often the ones built at the intersection of leadership, luxury, service, and women’s empowerment, told through the unlikely lens of yachting.

For women seeking reinvention, purpose, and community in unexpected places, Aloni Ford’s story offers a powerful example of what becomes possible when you combine lived experience with vision and commitment to service.

Photos by – Grant Vardanian