Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson is a recognized innovator of new avenues for venture capital and impact investment. Her expertise in leading technology, investment and social impact initiatives since 2010 culminated in creating VC Include in 2018 to build platforms and programs for diverse emerging managers globally. With just 1% of the $70 Trillion of assets in the U.S. managed by diverse asset managers, VC Include meets this market opportunity by cultivating an ecosystem of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ and women-led asset managers in alternative investments.
Born in Palo Alto, California and raised between New York City and California’s Central Valley, Ms. Robinson’s expertise is enriched by real-life and professional practice and demonstrates an aptitude for building and managing a matrix of high-level partnerships. She expanded the first online technology competitions and conferences in Africa as the Executive Director of Appfrica in 2012, partnering with The U.S. Department of State, The World Bank, Microsoft, Mozilla and Nokia. She also managed the Appfrica Fund to provide early-stage capital to the first wave of technology entrepreneurs throughout the continent, and built a robust tech ecosystem to support startups in East and West Africa. At Ashoka, she established partnerships and a pipeline of thousands of social entrepreneurs for clients including Exxon Mobil, G20, AMGEN, The Ebay Foundation, HUD, Google and Omidyar Network. She launched Young Art Collector in 2012 to connect art collectors with artists within the African Diaspora.
Ms. Robinson is a Bloomberg News New Voices Fellow, served as Co-chair of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneur (ANDE) Capacity Development Council, and is a graduate of University of California, Davis. Her work has been recognized by the Knight Foundation, SOCAP, Toniic, Crunchbase, Impact Alpha, Echoing Green, Entrepreneur, CNN and Forbes.