Warnell Kayode Owens was born on January 19, 1971, in New York City, where he spent his life, made his family, and raised his children until his death on August 30, 2021. He was named Warnell after his father but was called by his middle name Kayode (or Yode for short) which in Yoruba means “He brought joy.”
When Yode was a child, he lived in Greenwich Village with his parents in a working-class household. His father, Warnell, was a veteran, honorably discharged from the Army and Navy, a mechanic, and a short-haul truck driver. His mother, Ellen, was an artist and singer, who worked in the restaurant industry and in corporate America to ensure that she could provide healthcare and sustenance for her family after Yode’s father died. When Yode was little, he was a great kid, who never gave his parents any problems. He was a fast learner, who learned to read quickly and loved it from a young age.
In his early years, Yode attended Public School 41, where he was one of very few Black students. From the beginning, Yode excelled in school. In Kindergarten, he was advanced a class. In school, Yode was an easy, well-adjusted student, who was well-liked by all and had a lot of friends. He attended a Junior High School on the Eastside of Manhattan. For High School, Yode initially enrolled in Bronx Science, but he did not like it and quickly called his mother to ask to come home. While still in 9th grade, Yode transferred to McBurney Preparatory School, a private school in Manhattan which he attended on scholarship. While there, Yode played on the football and wrestling teams, serving as captain of both teams his senior year. He won the NY private schools state wrestling championship his senior year. Academically, Yode excelled in every respect, and was one of the highest ranking students in his graduating class. While applying to college, Yode was fasting to lose weight for The Nationals Wrestling competition. As a result, Yode actually fell asleep during his interview for Yale University but was admitted anyway. In fact, Yode was admitted into every college to which he applied, including several other Ivy League schools. In the Spring of 1988, he graduated from McBurney High School.
Yode, in his infinite wisdom, elected to matriculate at Harvard University in the Fall of that year. During his freshman year, Yode lived in Canaday E, a dormitory in Harvard Yard. One friend recounted that she:
“[…] met Yode on the first day she stepped onto Harvard’s campus in 1988. Yode and his friend were in the courtyard of Canaday E when she arrived with my family and a full car. Without hesitation, Yode and his friend volunteered to carry all of her stuff up four flights of stairs. In Canaday E, the women lived on the top floor and the three floors below were all men. It almost seemed as if the men were being asked to “protect” the women. Oddly enough, this metaphor served well for her relationship with Yode, as he was like a brother she did not have, and always looking out for her, ensuring that she got home safely when they were out at night.”
This was a role that Yode played with many of his friends and family – caretaker, provider, and protector.
While at Harvard, Yode majored in sociology and lived in Mather House until his graduation with roommates who continued to remain some of his best friends until his death. He played football for all four years and is often remembered for his passion and big plays during games, and hard work and good humor during practice and off-season workouts. Yode loved to eat at The Border Café and Pinocchio’s Pizzeria and spend time with friends. However, when his father died and his family needed him, Yode, the consummate caretaker, returned home to help his family.
After graduating Harvard in 1993, Yode returned to New York and made Harlem his home. He was the first in his family to graduate from college. Yode lived between two worlds, as a Black Ivy League professional in the business and finance world, who endured the structural inequality in the financial services sector, and as a young Black man from the city who had to endure the structural racism of everyday life, and he moved seamlessly between them, but not without it taking its toll. During the 1990s, Yode worked for established companies and start-ups in the financial and tech markets. Even during this busy time, Yode never forgot his friends, whom he considered family, or his desire to have an impact on the world. He was known to always help friends. Yode got them through the difficult times, and the worst times of their lives. He assisted friends with finding jobs – even giving one friend a job he was leaving. He aided friends with obtaining housing – often opening his home to friends in need. Yode cared for his friends and was there for them in ways that were amazing. He was their cheerleader when no one else was cheering them on.
One friend recounted a story of how he was:
“[…] fresh out of college and wanted to do something to give back to the community that brought him up. Lacking virtually any sophistication in financial leverage, Kayode patiently advised him on how to turn a lot of passion and a little bit of money into a tax exempt non-profit that elevated hundreds of 'non-traditional stars' from challenging circumstances into one of New England's most innovative internship programs since City Year. Without Kayode's brilliance and generosity, the SCF Summer Grant Program would not have existed and literally hundreds of young people from challenging circumstances would not have had the opportunity to break through numerous social, educational, professional, and economic barriers. Truly, the diversity, equity and inclusion momentum in Southeastern New England owes some of its energy to the contributions of Kayode Owens.”
He believed in his friends, even when they did not believe in themselves. Yode always wanted to help others move forward, make the world more equitable and inclusive to those who were traditionally excluded.
Yode loved to travel, taking many trips around the world, including multiple trips to Brazil, Cuba and Mexico, and annual trips to Las Vegas for Harvard beer pong tournaments. While he was putting time into traveling, becoming a Master of the Universe in the finance world, and having an impact on the non-profit world, Yode had one of the hardest, most life-changing experiences. For the first real time, Yode experienced structural racism at its worst in a near death encounter with the police. That incident forever changed his perspective and impacted every aspect of his life, including his personal relationships, his development as a professional, how he viewed founders and their companies, and every encounter with law enforcement he ever had. Most importantly, it inflamed his passion to address and fix systemic, structural racism, which became part of his life’s mission.
In 2007, with entrepreneurial ambitions in mind, Yode decided to return to school to further his education. He matriculated at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, where he focused on Entrepreneurship and Entertainment. Yode earned a full-tuition scholarship through the prestigious Consortium for Graduate Study in Management (CGSM), an organization dedicated to enhancing diversity and inclusion in global business education and leadership. He was 100% involved with and loved by his classmates and professors. He spent countless hours working on group projects, taking international trips as part of the global curriculum, and mentoring other students, all while remaining a dedicated father and pursuing creative startup ideas. In 2009, Yode graduated with a Master in Business Administration and returned back to New York to take care of his family and his beloved young son.
As part of his participation in the Consortium, Yode was assigned a mentor from the class ahead of him, who shared his interests in technology and entertainment. The two of them were determined to start their own ventures upon graduation, and decided along with another friend to become co-founders of MyCypher, Inc., in 2008. MyCypher.com was the first-of-its-kind audio social network, which the team described as a “Global Open Mic,” allowing rappers, influencers, and aspiring creators worldwide to publish short audio posts from any mobile phone. It was Hip-Hop meets High Tech. In his dual role as Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, Yode was instrumental in MyCypher winning the top prize at PepsiCo10, a national innovation competition sponsored by Pepsi Co., in 2010.
Despite the promise of the platform, MyCypher, Inc. closed their doors in 2013. Nevertheless, Yode was able to convert his newfound expertise in application development, entrepreneurship and creativity into his next role as Vice President at JP Morgan Chase, where he worked closely with technology and design experts to co-create the next generation of mobile banking innovation. Yode worked in various companies in the financial services sector, between graduating from college and going to business school, and upon his return thereafter. His experiences at these companies and in his life impacted what he wanted his own company to become. He always wanted to be a change agent and wanted his work to create impact and to change the status quo.
In the last years of his life, Yode and his partners at Humble Ventures developed a set of methods and programs to help startup founders train for the rigors of fundraising and building early-stage businesses, as well as to prepare for the integration of innovative new concepts into more traditional large scale corporate environments.
As an extension of the impactful work that Yode did at Humble Ventures, Yode formed a new health-equity focused venture fund in 2020, Unseen Capital Health Fund LP, which provides venture backing to minority-owned, early-stage/startup healthcare companies that focus on healthcare solutions for marginalized communities. With the support and investment of healthcare industry leaders, Yode was able to provide early-stage and growth capital to minority founders addressing these issues with new solutions. In his own words, Yode said they were funding “underrepresented founders who are building solutions/companies that help democratize access to quality care,” and “eliminate inequities in our system” for no fee and no equity from founders. Yode said the following in an interview:
“Solving for equitable healthcare is the challenge of the 21st century. […] While Covid-19 laid bare the inequities of our health-care system, George Floyd’s killing laid bare the inequities of our justice system. We need to bet on underrepresented founders to be the agent of that change.”
For Yode, this Fund was an important step toward changing the status quo and impacting systemic, structural racism. He believed health is inextricably linked to social justice and equality, something which was made even more clear to him through his own experience surviving COVID-19. Yode and his partners were working to bring innovation, commercial attention, and capital to these important spaces in healthcare, particularly in the wake of the needs that became evident during the pandemic.
Beyond healthcare, Yode attacked systemic, structural racism and unfairness by speaking to students and student athletes about structural racism and implicit bias. He served as a resource for a larger network of allies who want to know more, do better, and make a change. Yode encouraged people to speak out and fight structural racism and systemic disparities, and to let their light shine brightly no matter what.
Yode loved his family, loved food, loved to travel, and he was a phenomenal friend. His timing was always great – when he reached out to people, it was right when they needed his encouragement, wisdom, or needed to hear what he had to say. Yode wanted to see his people win and get to the next level. Yode coached and helped many people, he was very giving and extremely generous with his time and himself. He had such a personal connection with so many people and on such intimate levels that touched and changed their lives. Yode was always there when people needed him most.
Family and keeping family traditions alive was extremely important to Yode. He took care of his mother from the time his dad died until his final days. Yode was a big part of her life. He was her everything. Yode was a dedicated son, husband, and father, who loved his children dearly. They were the light of his life.
Yode’s transition to fatherhood was seamless. He believed his children were an investment into the future and a vehicle for continued change. With all of his children, Yode stressed the importance of education, sports, and the arts, so that his children could become well-rounded individuals who would be able to overcome any obstacle they encountered and contribute to the betterment of society.
Yode was a great partner and husband. He and Kim loved to travel and their best date nights were spent at home cooking. They continued his family traditions in their own home. Yode and Kim found true love and their love endured the test of time.
Although he was taken from us much too soon, at the end of Yode’s life, there was a clarity and a peacefulness that came in large part from being able to reconcile all the areas of his life, revisit and rethink many of the things that were most important to him. He was able to share the love and inspiration with those he loved and that mattered to him most. By bringing all of us together and sharing his perspectives and life mission, Yode has empowered those who knew and loved him to carry that forward.
Kayode is survived by his wife, Kimberly A. Owens; his children, Giovanni, Josh, Kiana, Isabella, and Nico; his mother, Ellen Owens; his siblings, Damita (Meme) and Shaheem Owens; and a host of many beloved aunts, uncles, cousins, and many close friends.
Image by Kimberly Araujo - London, 2019