Jim Shelton: The Opportunity and Risk of Black Male Achievement | 188

When Black males start to achieve, the mobility rates for our community will pick up exponentially.  That is the opportunity for us, but it is also the risk, if we don’t.

Our featured guest today is Jim Shelton.

James “Jim” Shelton is Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Blue Meridian Partners.

In this role, Jim is investigating new areas where significant focused capital can help solve problems at scale and advising Blue Meridian. Jim is also a founding partner of Amandla Enterprises, Senior Advisor for Education at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institute.

Prior to this, he served as President and Chief Impact Officer of 2U, Inc. and was deputy secretary at the US Department of Education (and head of its office of innovation and improvement) under President Obama. There, he served as the Executive Director of the President’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative and served on and led multiple interagency efforts focused on poverty reduction, economic development, entrepreneurship, and increased opportunity, such as the Investing in Innovation Fund, Promise Neighborhoods, and ConnectED.