Kelauni Jasmyn, a native Chicagoan, graduated summa cum laude from Howard University as a pre-med student with a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry. She is a former software developer, who is now the Founder and Executive Director of Black Tech Nation (//BTN) – a digital network of Black technologists, innovators, and entrepreneurs headquartered in Pittsburgh – and General Partner of Black Tech Nation Ventures (BTN.vc) – a $50 million fund for Black entrepreneurs and startups led by diverse founders and teams.

Kelauni moved to Pittsburgh in April 2016 where she graduated from the first cohort of Academy Pittsburgh Coding Boot Camp in July 2016 and accepted a contract position with The Washington Post as a software developer. In January of 2017, she co-created one of Pittsburgh’s first coding boot camps and curriculum specifically designed for high school students of diverse backgrounds – Academy Pittsburgh’s Beta Builders.

She is now the Founder and CEO of Black Tech Nation aka #DigitalWakanda, which she founded in 2018 after seeing the gap between the Black community and the tech community in Pittsburgh. //BTN now serves as a digital community and much-needed resource for 1600+ Black technologists, tech adjacent professionals, and allies across the country and beyond. //BTN works in partnership with several Pittsburgh foundations, local institutions, global tech companies, and successful venture firms who are dedicated to diversifying the color of tech.

In 2020, Kelauni formed Black Tech Nation Ventures with Partners David Motley and Sean Sebastian, a $50 million fund to support Black entrepreneurs and startups led by Black executives and people from diverse backgrounds. BTN.vc has been featured by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch, and has garnered several investments from global Fortune 100 companies. The team just recently celebrated a $25 million first-close at the end of 2021 and plans to close the fund in Summer 2022.

She is now focusing on finding great Black/diverse-led companies to invest in while expanding the Black Tech Nation community footprint to more cities. She is also actively working to establish Olivia Wayne, //BTN’s sister recruiting agency to support job placement opportunities for //BTN’s members in 2023.

Kelauni Jasmyn is currently serving on the transition committee for Pittsgburgh’s first Black Mayor, Mayor Ed Gainey, advising on tech workforce and investment strategies for the City of Pittsburgh. She is also a former board member of The City of Pittsburgh’s Gender Equity Commission and The City of Pittsburgh’s Startup & Entrepreneurship Board. When she’s not working (whenever that might be), she loves to travel, dance, and hone in on her interior decorating skills.