First Close Partners
Shavar Jeffries currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the KIPP Foundation, a position held since January 2023. In addition, Shavar Jeffries is a Limited Partner at First Close Partners and has a history of leadership roles including President at Education Reform Now from September 2015 to January 2023, and Partner at Lowenstein Sandler LLP until January 2023. Previous responsibilities included serving as a Board Member at Pzena Investment Management and as an Associate Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice. Shavar Jeffries also worked as Counsel to the Attorney General of New Jersey and held various legal positions throughout a distinguished career beginning with the Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest Law. Academic credentials include a JD from Columbia Law School and a BA in History and English from Duke University.
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First Close Partners
First Close Partners backs venture funds owned by underrepresented managers (“URMs”) -- especially to help them get to a “first close.” The company invests in venture capital firms owned and operated by URMs who are people of color, women, LGBTQIA+, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, and members of other groups that have been historicallyunderrepresented, especially (but not solely) in the venture capital industry. The venture capital funds into which they have invested are predominantly located in the US, Europe, and Africa.