Kiswana Browne
Kiswana earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in Economics from Hobart and William Smith College.
She currently lives in Los Angeles, CA where she enjoys performing arts, scenic views, writing poetry and exploring new culinary experiences.
Kiswana is the Co-Founder of Spotlight Ventures, an LA-based pre-seed fund focused on software shaping the future of how we build, connect and thrive.
Prior to Spotlight Ventures, Kiswana was an Investor at Newark Venture Partners, an early-stage VC firm founded by the founder of Audible, where she spearheaded the Fintech investment vertical. She was an Investor at Plug and Play Ventures, where she played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between major financial institutions and the most promising startups on a global scale. At the outset of her investing career, Kiswana was an Investment Banker at MD Global Partners, serving small to mid-cap companies across multiple sectors, such as Healthcare and Industrials, through M&A, financial advisory, and capital markets.
Before becoming an investor, Kiswana operated in the tech industry, leading multi-million dollar software development projects for top financial and energy corporations such as JP Morgan Chase, UBS Investment Bank, and National Grid. She has led cross-functional teams comprising more than 100 professionals, including engineers, UX designers, and account executives, spanning three continents, to create impactful software solutions.
Inspired by this experience, Kiswana transitioned from leading teams to empowering the next generation. She recognized the critical gap in the STEM workforce pipeline and became a founder, building a platform to bridge the education-to-employment transition in technical industries.
Kiswana’s dynamic career path underscores her unwavering passion for transforming bold ideas into reality.