Taj Ahmad Eldridge

Taj (タージ) is a 25+ year investment professional whose career has included high-level executive roles in banking, asset management, alternative investments, and entrepreneurship. As General Partner of Include Venture Partners and former Senior Director of Investments at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), Eldridge has built a longstanding career with expertise in fintech, media, energy, transportation, and the circular economy.

At LACI, he established the LACI Impact Fund I (LIF I) and the LACI Debt Fund to allow cleantech companies to grow with various capital. These funds utilize an equity impact lens to encourage investee companies to have environmental, economic, and social impact - particularly on increasing the number of underrepresented voices in the cleantech industry. In addition, Eldridge created programs such as LACI Investor Talks (LIT), the LACI Investor in Residence program, and the Player to CEO Athlete-Investor Impact Summit Series with JP Morgan Chase. He has been named one of the 53 Investors to Watch in 2021 by Pitchbook & 101 Black Titans in Tech while nurturing and building a team of investment activists.

Before LACI, Eldridge was the Director for the Incubator at the University of California in Riverside, California. During his tenure as Director, his team brought a $10M venture fund (Highlander Fund) to the Inland Empire - the first for the region. Because of Eldridge’s focus on blending entertainment, policy, and entrepreneurship, the area was named the #4 city in the United States for Diverse Entrepreneurs via Entrepreneur Magazine.

Eldridge began as a banker and economist with Wells Fargo Bank, UBS Investment Bank, and TRW Investments. He has also been a Founder, Board Member, and Investor in companies such as ILTG Media, Boswell Official Apparel, Voter, Xtopoly, Rookielook, iListen, KYC Hospitality, KIGT, Majira Project, CleanTek Capital, and ConCreates.

He also serves on the Climate Finance Advisory Team of the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP), the Executive Board of the Homeboy Industries Ventures Fund, and The Majira Project - a Boston Consulting Group Venture Studio.

He has been featured in Impact Alpha, the Los Angeles Business Journal, Pitchbook, Forbes, GreenBiz, and Entrepreneur Magazine for his tireless efforts to achieve alpha while also advancing equity.

Eldridge has a BA degree in poetry & literature from Texas A&M University-Commerce, an MBA degree in International Business from Pepperdine University, and studied geopolitical economics at Claremont Graduate University as a Ph.D. He also studied abroad at The Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Santiago, Chile, The Universidad Do Porto in Porto, Portugal, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in Hong Kong, China.

Eldridge is an avid audiobook bibliophile and a music lover of all genres.