On Episode 5 of Black Genius, we're excited to have in the Genius Chair, Okendo Lewis-Gayle. Lewis-Gayle is the author of Harambeans: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things, in which he chronicles the struggles and triumphs of Diaspora returnees building scalable ventures in Africa. He is also founding partner of Harambeans Prosperity Fund and Founder and Chairman of the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance.

Harambe is an ecosystem of over 300 young African leaders (Harambeans) which has spawned a series of tech-enabled ventures such as Andela, Yoco and Flutterwave. Collectively Harambeans have generated over 3000 jobs, and raised over $500m from Google Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Alibaba.

A global citizen in the truest sense, Okendo was born in Costa Rica, raised in Italy and educated in Taiwan and the US. He speaks and reads Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, French and Greek. A friend to many global leaders, Okendo was once responsible for introducing then Senator Barack Obama to his graduating class with a speech that, Obama remarked, made him grateful that such a leader and orator would not be running for president just yet.

Okendo is a graduate of Harvard University, the Inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence at Schwarzman College in Beijing and has served as Africa Advisor to the Vatican, Rhodes Trust, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Follow him on Twitter and follow the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance here. Believe you have what it takes to become a Harambean? Apply here.

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Lolade Siyonbola: Building the Black Google

Black GeniusBy noirpressMay 20, 2020