Shawna Young, CEO of Camelback Ventures, has built her life around the joys of education and a passion for empowering the leaders of tomorrow through coaching, capital, connections, community, and curriculum. Celebrating its tenth anniversary, Camelback Ventures has expanded to encompass two entrepreneurial-focused fellowship cycles per year, a second program focused on building more equitable and accessible funding practices in philanthropy, and an annual Guardian Summit convening to help foster the next generation of leaders and innovators living in the Gulf South.
“Investing in and supporting underinvested business leaders is about more than uplifting individual ventures. It’s about the multiplying effect those businesses have on our communities. We’re not just invested in helping ventures survive, we’re empowering them to thrive,” says Shawna Young, CEO of Camelback Ventures.
With degrees from Howard University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and MIT, Shawna was born into a family of teachers and entrepreneurs. That combination of education and innovation allows her a unique insight into how to best position Camelback Ventures to offer advancement and access in communities where opportunities are often less available.
“Unlike New York or even Austin, there are so many entrepreneurs in New Orleans who simply need the opportunity to succeed,” says Shawna. “By securing philanthropic dollars locally, we have been able to expand, doubling the number of applications to our accelerator programs and cultivating a community where entrepreneurs can innovate on a local level that makes a real difference here at home.”
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