Kwame Yao Anku is the CEO of Black Star Fund and the Founder and President of New Dawn Global Enterprises, an international business development and strategic growth consulting group.

 

For over 20 years, Kwame has also worked extensively in business development and media marketing blending entrepreneurship, social impact and corporate engagement.

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In 2015, Kwame co-founded the Black Angel Tech Fund, an early stage venture capital firm, where he served as Principal Partner through 2018 leading fundraising, portfolio building and portfolio management teams.

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Recently named “One of the Top 25 Black Venture Capitalists to Watch in 2018” by Pitchbook, Kwame has worked extensively in business development and media marketing for over two decades. In September 2018, Kwame was selected to be one of only twenty-one recipients of the prestigious Aspen Ascend Fellowship from The Aspen Institute.

 

Kwame entered into the tech industry after the late legendary rock star Prince recruited him to develop his mobile app, overseeing business and development teams in Africa, Asia and the US. He went on to serve as the National Director of Strategic Development for #YesWeCode initiative, where he developed corporate and media partnerships with NBC Universal, Comcast, Ford Motor Company Fund, ESSENCE magazine, Alabama Power, The City of Oakland, The City of Detroit, The City of Birmingham and Google.

 
An eloquent and thought-provoking thinker, Kwame has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs including CNN, MSNBC, BBC Worldwide & National Public Radio. He has spoken extensively around the United States encouraging diverse audiences to think differently about social inclusion and technology. His work with youth tech inclusivity garnered two invitations to the Obama White House Administration to share ideas and best practices with leaders from around the United States.

Kwame has delivered powerful keynote addresses and been a featured speaker at the Google For Entrepreneurs' Black Wall Street Conference in Durham, The Essence Festival in New Orleans, Culture Shifting Weekend in New York City, The National Black Chamber of Commerce in Washington. D.C., The Ford Freedom Awards in Detroit, the Association of Black Foundation Executives Conference in Napa Valley, and recently at the First Annual Ghana Tech Summit in West Africa.

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Kwame serves on the Board of Regents for North Central University, on the board of directors for Operation iDream in Zambia, the startup tech firm, Bandwagon and on the Presidential Advisory Board for the Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Sacramento State University.

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Kwame is a mentor for both the AT&T Aspire Accelerator and Founder Institute Sacramento.

                      Kwame is an honors graduate of Stanford University.