Venturing to Learn at the Yale Black Venture Summit

On a bright Saturday earlier this spring, the 2025 Yale Black Venture Summit 2025 (YBVS) transformed the Beinecke Terrace at Evans Hall into a hub of ideas and new connections. This year, the summit was driven by a clear mission and vision to connect Black entrepreneurs, founders, funders, and business leaders across Yale, New Haven, Connecticut, and beyond. Members of New Haven’s Black community have often describe feeling invited to Yale events as guests rather than partners. So for YBVS 2025, we turned the model inside out. We organized a New Haven event, hosted at Yale in partnership with the New Haven Black business community. And New Haven showed up! Many of the city’s most influential voices were represented, including the leadership of the prominent economic development organization ConnCAT, whose mission to buy back the hood is a radical reinvestment in Black prosperity.

In keeping with tradition, Tsai CITY’s managing director extraordinaire, Zoe Hunter, welcomed attendees to a Friday evening networking reception at their beautiful space. The fact that the reception was oversubscribed should have been our first cue that this year’s summit would be extraordinary. The atmosphere buzzed with energy; the sights, sounds, and spirit of the evening created a perfect backdrop for the kinds of meaningful conversations that spark new ventures and lasting friendships. With excellent wine, delicious hors d’oeuvres, and a room full of creative and purpose-driven minds, the night set the tone for an unforgettable summit.

Our keynote speaker, venture capitalist Michael Granger, delivered what can best be described as a moment of deep reckoning and renewal. He issued a clear admonishment to the audience and the broader Black entrepreneurial community: “The cavalry is not coming.” That is, we cannot wait for traditional structures—be they government, philanthropy, or White-led capital—to rescue us. We must take ownership of our economic futures, build wealth collaboratively, and embed our values into how we invest in one another. Michael called on attendees to collaborate rather than compete, to share resources rather than guard them, and to invest in ideas, in people, and in places. He cautioned us that the journey will be tough and arduous, that we cannot relent, and that, ultimately, the results will be more than worth it. Black wealth is not just about individual success but about our collective empowerment. Michael’s message set the tone for the entire summit: urgency, unity, and unapologetic self-determination.

This year, we introduced two transformative workshops that gave attendees tools to build and grow their businesses. In “Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset,” tech founder Harold Hughes walked attendees through a candid exploration of self-doubt, vision, and discipline. He emphasized that entrepreneurship starts with belief in oneself, in a novel idea, and in connecting with people. He shared parts of his own journey, highlighting the resilience it takes to keep building in the face of obstacles. Attendees walked away with clarity and confidence. Yale SOM professor Shane Frederick offered a rigorous yet accessible guide to testing assumptions and gathering evidence before scaling during his “Designing Business Experiments” workshop. He challenged attendees to treat their businesses like scientists, sharing the mantra “test, measure, learn, and iterate.” It was a master class in decision-making under uncertainty, drawing on behavioral economics to help founders avoid common pitfalls. Many attendees expressed their enthusiasm at the opportunity to learn business strategy from a Yale faculty member.

We hosted two panel discussions that solidified YBVS as a key platform for Black entrepreneurs to learn and connect in Connecticut and beyond. The panel “Resources to Develop Black Wealth in New Haven,” moderated by local entrepreneur Sammi Williams, convened four of the city’s power players: impact investor Arthur Thomas III, ConnCORP executive Phil Rigueur, city government leader Kobéy Smith, and data scientist Latisha Douglas. Together, the panelists mapped out what’s already available in the city—from technical assistance and capital to procurement opportunities and real estate support. Panelists emphasized that New Haven is not lacking in resources but rather faces challenges with connectivity and continuity. The conversation surfaced a strong call to action: ensure Black-owned businesses know what’s available and how to access it. It was a powerful reminder that wealth begins with awareness. The Dean Blackman-moderated “Founding and Building Sustainable Businesses” panel with Stacey Hightower, Christopher Gray, Shondra Washington, and Devon Johnson focused on how to build and grow ventures that last and that align with the founder’s values. Panelists spoke candidly about the tension between scale and sustainability, success and failure, profit and purpose. They shared strategies for scaling responsibly, maintaining mission integrity, learning from failures, and building teams that reflect the communities they serve. The panel was rich in practical advice and deep in wisdom, reminding us that business is a long game, and that success is not just what we build but how we build it.

We capped off the summit with a pitch competition. Six amazing finalists introduced attendees to exciting ventures in graphic design education, food technology, hair-braiding technology, sustainable sneakers, roller-skating community, and classic car wheel marketplaces. If we could, we would have awarded each finalist a pot of gold for their wonderful businesses. Ultimately, Cassandra Hamer of Design Elementary, a creative platform introducing children to graphic design, took home the first-place prize, with Kyle Mayers of WheelPrice coming in second.

At YBVS 2025 we ventured to learn, and the summit exceeded every one of our expectations. The response from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Dozens of introductions were made, mentorship relationships were formed, and new collaborations began to take shape. What we saw and heard during and after the summit has made it clear that YBVS is important, perhaps necessary even, but certainly useful for the Black entrepreneurial community in New Haven and beyond. Over and over, attendees told us that the city needs events like this more than once a year. Throughout the day, we were reminded that the future we want is not waiting to be given. It’s ours to build.

We are deeply grateful to our sponsors—Tsai CITY, the Connecticut Black Business Alliance, the Center for Inclusive Growth, the Yale SOM Council on Anti-Racism and Equity, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and ConnCORP—for believing in our vision and investing in Black excellence. We also thank our inspiring speakers and panelists for reminding us that success is about purpose, legacy, and community as much as capital. Above all, YBVS 2025 stands as a testament to the dedication of our incredible steering committee and volunteers, without whom none of this would have been possible.