Saamra Mekuria-Grillo
Formation Ventures
San Antonio, TX
Saamra Mekuria-Grillo is the Co-founder and CEO of Formation Ventures, a startup that is dedicated to dramatically increasing the number and success of Black entrepreneurs starting in high school, through educational and new venture support programs. Prior to founding Formation Ventures, she was the Chief Operating Officer at the Pahara Institute, where she oversaw Program and Institute Operations. Previous to Pahara, Saamra was a consultant at Bain & Company, where she worked with clients in education, private equity, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals.
Saamra started her career at Google, and spent over a year in India, as one of the founding team members of Google’s Hyderabad office, where she focused on training and growth of Google’s customer service sales and operations team. Holding a deep belief in the power of education to provide transformative opportunities to young people, Saamra has served on multiple charter school boards, including the Mission Preparatory School in San Francisco, CA, and the East Bay Innovation Academy in Oakland, CA, and she currently serves on the board of Compass Rose Public Schools in Texas.
She holds an MBA with a certificate in Public Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, where she double majored in History and International Studies. She is also a proud graduate of the Boston Latin School, the first public school in the United States. Saamra lives in San Antonio, TX with her husband and her two sons.
Overview
Formation Ventures’ mission is to accelerate emerging Black entrepreneurs ages 16 to 26 as they explore, connect, launch, and grow their visions into wealth-building ventures. We are excited about scaling our impact and responding to learner feedback by adapting our live virtual learning experience into a blended learning product.
Formation Ventures believes that providing rigorous learning about and identity-affirming exploration of entrepreneurship, developmental connections, venture launch support, and seed funding to Black young people ages 16-26 will dramatically accelerate the number, success, and sustainability of Black entrepreneurs, resulting in a thriving, wealth-generating Black entrepreneurial ecosystem, and significant gains in intergenerational mobility.
With additional Boulder Fund support, Formation Ventures will continue to scale their impact by expanding from a direct instruction model with in-house instructors to a robust blended learning product that can be implemented by schools, after school programs, community-based organizations, and youth-serving organizations.
