Michelle Kathryn Essomé (née Taylor)[1] is a former investment banker and the ex-CEO[2] of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA).
Consequently, she transferred to the Howard University's School of Business, where she obtained a BBA in Finance[7] and was a recipient of a Wall Street Journal scholarship.
[8] Later on, whilst working for Goldman Sachs, she won an MBA scholarship at Columbia Business School,[6] here she was a Robert F. Toigo fellow.
[6] She was then recruited back to Lehman Bros in London in a strategic role to attract more women and ethnic minorities to the bank.
[4][6][9] She was previously a Director at Neuberger Berman[7] In September 2011, Essomé was appointed CEO of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), a pan-African industry body which aims to catalyse investment in Africa.