Meet the Fellows
Kaya Ventures is thrilled to welcome our 2022 Summer Fellows.
The unique experiences and diverse backgrounds of the group suit them well for Kaya’s Fellows program, which is intended to foster development and create a best-in-class learning experience while opening doors in the venture ecosystem. Each individual participant will collaborate with one another to build out several project opportunities that align with Kaya’s strategic priorities. This summer, Fellows will be working on projects involving content, research development, founder community, investment memos, and firm operations.
Meet the Fellows:
Judithe Registre
Babson College
Meet Judithe Registre. Judithe is a believer in entrepreneurship as a driver of economic progress and intergenerational wealth, and she has committed her career to creating a more equitable and sustainable future for humanity. Judithe has worked with, led, and created numerous international organizational programs in numerous countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Her expertise is in redesigning old paradigms to launch new models of progress. She is well versed in the power of narratives and storytelling tools for transformation. Judithe is currently completing a master of Science in Management with a concentration in advanced entrepreneurial leadership. She is most looking forward to learning about fund modeling and thesis alignment, the risk-reward profile of portfolio construction, M&E, and strategies for engaging LPs.
Fun Fact: Favorite restaurant? Any bakery that makes the best goods in its respective cuisine (Judithe thinks that the perfect pastry is an experience of divinity, whether that be at a French, Creole, or Latin bakery.)
Lizi Feng
University of California, Berkeley
Meet Lizi Feng. Lizi is an experienced consultant across various industries such as healthcare, insurtech, finance, and energy. She is currently pursuing her MBA at Haas School of Business with a concentration on Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. Having been a caretaker for her mom who was diagnosed with cancer, she founded her own hardware enabled healthcare startup focusing on empowering caretakers to remotely monitor the health and wellness of their loved ones. Using this experience, she now helps VC-backed hardware startups build their napkin-sketch dreams into production realities. Lizi is most excited to learn about the latest trends in the wellness space, deep diving into the next generation economy of groups such as GenZ or the aging population.
Fun Fact: Favorite city? Florence, Italy (Lizi loves the smells and sounds that fill the streets of Florence. She even dreams of becoming a pasta chef one day!)
Stephanie Clark
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Meet Stephanie Clark. Steph is a student of The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She has worked at a handful of startups and has also taught. She is interested in VC because she fell in love with startups and is looking forward to the opportunity to collaborate with founders from the investment side. This summer, Steph is most excited to learn more about Kaya’s deal flow and evaluation process.
Fun Fact: Favorite restaurant? Shan Shan, a tiny noodle spot in New Jersey (Steph thinks they make the best hand pulled noodles!)
Annabel Baxter
Harvard University
Meet Annabel Baxter. Annabel is a rising junior at Harvard College studying Social Studies with a secondary in Environmental Science and Public Policy. Her participation in the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs Accelerator (powered by Pegasus Tech Ventures) left her with a passion for the sustainable side of investing as well as a love for building personal relationships with founders. This summer, Annabel is most excited to learn about the opportunities to increase equity through access to capital. She is eager to work on strengthening the Founder community at Kaya and discover what it takes to build a diverse but united portfolio of companies and their founders.
Fun Fact: Favorite movie? The Blind Side (Annabel LOVEs Sandra Bullock). Favorite restaurant? Anything sushi (Loves a good yellowtail jalapeño).
Madeleine Fremont-Smith
Cornell University
Meet Madeleine Fremont-Smith. Madeleine is a rising junior at Cornell University studying Government with a focus on Economics and Social Justice. Madeleine is interested in the intersection of social justice ideals with the potential for growth provided by fields such as Venture Capital. Her asset management work at a non-profit in Arusha, Tanzania last summer as well as a previous internship working at a New York City-based fund left her wanting to explore the deal-making process from a value-based perspective. Madeleine is most looking forward to experiencing the ways in which mindful investing can create more equitable access across different sectors as well as improving her financial literacy by learning from Kaya leadership as well as the other Fellows.
Fun Fact: Weirdest habit? Madeleine was stung by a scorpion in East Africa at 16 and now shakes out her shoes most times before putting them on.
