Kwame Anku

CEO and Chairman, Black Star Fund
Sacramento, California

The Black Star Fund is an early stage innovation fund investing in the United States and Africa. Prior to the Black Star Fund, Kwame Anku was the Principal of the Black Angel Tech Fund, a pioneering investment fund he co-founded that focused on capitalizing Black technology entrepreneurs. Recently named “One of the Top 25 Black Venture Capitalists to Watch in 2018” by Pitchbook, Anku has worked extensively in business development and media marketing blending entrepreneurship, social impact, and corporate engagement for over two decades. Anku entered into the tech industry after being personally recruited by the late legendary rock star Prince to develop his mobile app. He later went on to serve as the National Director of Strategic Development for the Prince-inspired #YesWeCode initiative, supporting youth of color empowerment through the creation of technology. Kwame has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, BBC Worldwide, SiriusXM, and National Public Radio and is a mentor for both the AT&T Aspire Accelerator and Founder Institute Sacramento.

My Truth

The problem I am focusing on solving is breaking the economic disparity cycle afflicting people of the African diaspora. I call my bold vision 100X100. It is a vision of 100 Black investment managers who will each manage $100M innovation funds by 2025. I believe we can use technology (investment, creation, and deployment) to radically shift the disparities seen in wealth, health, education, and opportunities on a global scale.

Stories featuring Kwame Anku

Group of Ascend Fellows at Wind Cave National Park
My heart is filled with love and gratitude for the courageous community of leaders our Ascend at the Aspen Institute team works with everyday.  And I am simply delighted to share our Ascend at the Aspen Institute Impact & Inspiration Report. In this magazine-style 2022 Impact & Inspiration Report, you will meet just a few of those inspiring …

2022 Ascend Impact & Inspiration Report Read More »

PublicationFebruary 14, 2023
Black Lives Matter. As a collective of leaders committed to advancing two-generation strategies to end multigenerational poverty, we believe that the only path to that outcome is through a reckoning with our past and present, and a fundamental shift in our institutions. This requires a new social contract to remedy the harms of White supremacy â€“a …

Undo A System of White Supremacy: The Call for a New Social Contract Read More »

BlogJune 29, 2020
Presented by the Aspen Institute in partnership with the Atlantic, in its 15th year, the Aspen Ideas Festival is the nation’s premier, public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to present and discuss the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. Ascend has had the honor …

Ascending at the 2019 Aspen Ideas Festival Read More »

BlogJuly 12, 2019
Kwame AnkuChairman and CEOBlack Star Fund Sacramento, CAMy Vision – The problem I am focusing on solving is breaking the economic disparity cycle afflicting people of the African diaspora. I call my bold vision 100X100. It is a vision of 100 Black investment managers who will each manage $100M innovation funds by 2025. I believe we …

2018 Ascend Fellow Action Plans Read More »

Ascend FellowshipJune 19, 2019
[Through the Black Star Fund], we are looking to fund – on the for-profit technology investment side – diverse founders of color. My journey into this started when I was at Stanford, but in the immediate history, believe it or not, working with the rock star Prince. Around 2013, I had an opportunity to work …

Transforming Communities Through Enterprise Read More »

BlogApril 3, 2019
As state and federal lawmakers prepare for the year ahead, more than 350 practice and community leaders, policymakers, researchers, and philanthropists - including Ascend Fellows, Family Prosperity Innovators, and Ascend Network Partners - joined us at the 2019 Aspen Forum on Children and Families to harness this momentum for investing in the full potential of children and families, two generations at a time.
BlogMarch 13, 2019
2018 Ascend Fellows
NEWS RELEASE Contact: Lindsay Broyhill Ascend at the Aspen Institute Tel: 202.721.5596 Lindsay.broyhill@aspeninstitute.org Prestigious Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship Announces 2018 Class of Leaders Diverse Leaders Selected for Their Groundbreaking Work Advancing Opportunity for Children and Families With Low Incomes Washington, DC, September 6, 2018 – The Aspen Institute announced today the 2018 class of Aspen …

Prestigious Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship Announces 2018 Class of Leaders Read More »

Press ReleasesSeptember 6, 2018

Convenings Featuring Kwame Anku

Date: September 29, 2021
Location: Virtual
As a nation, we have realized that we can no longer tolerate the racial, gender, and social inequities that have shaped our country. Long before today’s unprecedented energy for change, there were leaders who were laying the foundation. Three of...
ConveningSeptember 29, 2021