Rachel Laryea’s Black Capitalists: A Dinner & Discussion
Join us for for a curated dinner and discussion on Black Capitalists: A Blueprint for What Is Possible by Dr. Rachel Laryea.
Black Capitalists is a one of a kind exploration into how Black visionaries from Wall Street to Lagos are reimagining capitalism to fit the needs of Black people. With deep on the ground reporting and rigorous historical analysis, Black Capitalists is ripe for group conversation at a time like this.
In addition to the roundtable discussion led by Dr. Laryea and our Co-Founders, guests will enjoy a beautiful family style meal by Ghanaian-American chef Nana Araba Wilmot.
Menu
* Canapés | crispy fonio with whipped sweet potato and tamarind glaze & red red croquettes
* First | sardine toast with shito butter, red stew, and shaved cured egg yolks
* Main | plantain-scaled tilapia topped with egusi and spinach in a pepper soup butter sauce with palm oil foam
* Dessert | sorghum red velvet cake with coconut baobab whipped cream and toasted coconut
* Wine pairings included
Please note: the canapés are vegetarian and the dessert is gluten-free but made in facilities where gluten is present. Unfortunately, substitutions are not possible. Thank you for understanding.
Ticket Options
Dinner: general admission to the event
Dinner + Book: general admission + a signed copy of Black Capitalists
Purchase your book in advance for a discount on your event ticket! Additional copies will be available onsite for purchase and personalized signings.
More about the book
Wall Street professional and Yale-educated anthropologist Dr. Rachel Laryea poses a provocative question: What if there was a way to thrive within capitalism without diminishing someone else’s life chances through exploitative practices? There is—and Black Capitalists are showing us how.
Told through Dr. Laryea’s own compelling narrative—growing up the child of a single mother who immigrated to the United States from Ghana and rose to the Ivy League and on Wall Street. Black Capitalists challenges readers to reconsider who gets to be the beneficiary of capitalism and reckons with the responsibility that comes with using the tools of our imperfect economic system to advance social good.
More about the participants
After cutting her teeth on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs, Dr. Rachel Laryea left to pursue a dual PhD in African American studies and sociocultural anthropology at Yale University. Her ethnographic research aims to understand nuanced forms of Black participation in capitalist economies. Rachel has held appointments at NYU Stern Business School and is currently a Wealth Management researcher at JPMorganChase. Prior to her current role, Rachel was a racial equity investment strategist, supporting the strategic implementation of the JPMorganChase $30 billion Racial Equity Commitment in service of closing the racial wealth gap for Black, Latino, and Hispanic communities. Rachel is also the founder and CEO of Kelewele, a plantain-inspired food startup based in Brooklyn, New York.
Nana Araba Wilmot is the Chef/Owner of Georgina’s Private Chef and Catering Co. and Curator of Love That I Knead, a West African focused dinner series. Holding degrees in Culinary Arts and Culinary Management from the Art Institute of Philadelphia, Chef Nana has worked for numerous culinary luminaries, including Wolfgang Puck, Iron Chef Jose Garces, Stephen Starr and Chef Daniel Rose at Le CouCou in NYC, which won a James Beard Best New Restaurant 2017 and a Michelin Star in 2018.
More about BEM
BEM Cultural Foundation (BCF) is the sibling nonprofit to BEM | books & more, a bookstore and culinary hub dedicated to global Black foodways and storytelling.
Established in 2025, BCF creates programs and experiences that deepen the public’s knowledge of Black culinary and literary traditions across the diaspora. BCF prioritizes communal gatherings, creating space to celebrate and explore Black food through literature while serving as a home for readers, writers, cooks, and eaters passionate about Black cultures in all their diversity.