Kwame entered the tech industry after being personally recruited by the late legendary rock star Prince to develop his mobile app, overseeing business and development teams in Africa, Asia and the US. He later went on to serve as the National Director of Strategic Development for the Prince-inspired #YesWeCode initiative, where he developed corporate and media partnerships throughout the United States.
Kwame has appeared as a subject matter expert on numerous national television and radio programs including CNN, MSNBC, BBC Worldwide, SiriusXM, & National Public Radio. His work garnered two invitations to the Obama White House 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 Harvard Business School, Stanford Law School, Aspen Ideas Festival, SXSW, TEDx Ghana, Wells Fargo Foundation, Essence Festival, Florida SBDC, Google For Entrepreneurs' Black Wall Street Conference and First-Ever Ghana Tech Summit in West Africa.
Kwame serves on the Board of Regents for North Central University, on the board of directors for Actively Black, CEEK Metaverse, Bandwagon, The MOST, Vurple and on the Advisory Board for the Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Sacramento State University.
Kwame is an honors graduate of Stanford University.
OUR TEAM
KWAME ANKU
Managing Partner & CIO
Kwame Anku is the Founding Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Black Star Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund.
Recently named the 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Kwame is also one of only twenty-one recipients of the prestigious Aspen Ascend Fellowship from The Aspen Institute.
Sarah Lynn
As Head of Operations, Sarah designs and implements policies and procedures for daily operations of the fund. Sarah previously served as Chief of Staff, collaborating with Kwame to prioritize and oversee strategic business initiatives. Prior to joining Black Star Fund, Sarah worked in the events industry for twelve years, most recently as the Senior Conference Events Programmer at SXSW where she managed all logistics for the annual conference’s 400+ VIP speakers including CEOs, national-level political leaders, military generals, musicians, and actors. Sarah graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University with a Bachelor of Science. She lives and works in Dallas, TX.
Head of Operations
Alex Gill
As Head of Growth Strategy, Alex strategizes, plans, and executes upon growth opportunities for Black Star Fund Portfolio Companies and internally for the fund. Alex previously served as Principle leading the fund’s Portfolio Management team. Prior to joining Black Star Fund, Alex was a Consultant at Bain & Company. In her four years at Bain, Alex supported both Private Equity Group clients as well as General Practice clients in Technology and Consumer Products. Alex graduated from Stanford University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Symbolic Systems (focus in Human-Computer Interaction). She lives and works in New York, NY.
Head of Growth Strategy
Sarah Fassberg
As Marketing Associate, Sarah supports all brand equity and marketing initiatives for the fund’s Portfolio Management team. Sarah recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 2022. During her time at Cornell, Sarah was a Teaching Assistant through the Cornell Prison Education Program, on the Diversity and Inclusion Team for the Women’s Caucus Club and the Marketing Team for Thread Magazine. She lives and works in New York, NY.
Marketing Associate
Temi Olonilua
Temi Olonilua is a second-year MBA candidate at Harvard Business School and a Toigo Foundation Fellow. Prior to HBS, she spent five years at Con Edison where she led various engineering and operations teams. As a daughter of two Nigerian entrepreneurs, Temi has seen first-hand, the transformative power of entrepreneurship for individuals and communities. Thus, she is passionate about using entrepreneurship and VC to facilitate wealth transfer to underinvested communities and create pipelines for Black and African diaspora to build world-changing companies. Temi earned her Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical and Molecular Engineering from Stony Brook University. She lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts.
Summer Associate
Jerome Fulton Jr.
Jerome Fulton, Jr., is a second-year MBA candidate at Harvard Business School who hails from Miami, FL. Prior to HBS, Jerome held management consulting roles at Deloitte Consulting and EY. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Florida and a Master of Accounting from the University of Southern California. He lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts.
Summer Associate
Katya Ivahno
Katya Ivahno is a second-year student at Chapman University, pursuing a major in Business Administration and Finance and a minor in Computer Science. Outside of the classroom, she is a member of the Chapman University Investment Group and Chapman University Finance Society. Katya is passionate about advocating equitable access and leadership for women and diverse individuals in the entrepreneurial, finance, and business industry. She lives and works in Orange, California.