Rachel Laryea is a Ghanaian-American entrepreneur and author of the recently published book, Black Capitalists: A Blueprint for What Is Possible. She secured a summer an internship at Goldman-Sachs while still in college at NYU and upon graduation was offered a high-paying job there, thereby introducing her to the cutthroat, hyper-competitive world of high finance. She left that world to pursue a dual Ph.D. in African-American Studies and Sociocultural Anthropology at Yale University. Currently Laryea works as an Asset Wealth Management researcher at J.P. Morgan-Chase and is also the founder and CEO of Kelewele, a plantain-inspired food startup based in Brooklyn, New York, with the goal of providing non-exploitive work opportunities. Her work focuses on Black participation in capitalist economies, both in the U.S. and Africa. Recorded 7/15/25.
