Aaliyah is a Senior Analyst at KCRise Fund. She graduated from Rockhurst University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, concentrating in Finance, Economics, Accounting, and Pre-Law. 

 

At Rockhurst University, Aaliyah was the co-founder and Vice President of the Idea Lab, a startup accelerator designed to support students interested in entrepreneurship. She also served as President of the business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, and Treasurer of the pre-law fraternity. Previously, she was a work-study student at the Prosperity Center for Financial Opportunity. 

 

Aaliyah sparked an interest in finance and entrepreneurship through her own journey in learning about personal finance. As she began mentoring others just starting their financial journeys, she realized how much she enjoyed personal finance education. Her interest in entrepreneurship was first inspired by watching her aunt and uncle launch and run their law firm in Liberty, Missouri, and later deepened during her internship at BMG Advisors. At BMG, she helped develop a new service offering designed to support individuals at the beginning of their wealth-building journey by promoting financial literacy and instilling healthy money habits.

 

While in college, Aaliyah was a Risk and Financial Advisory Intern at Deloitte. She is also a former intern with University Venture Fund - Crossroads, where she performed diligence on pre-Seed and Seed-stage companies, conducted market analyses, and engaged with high-growth startups. 

 

Born and raised in Kansas City, Aaliyah has an innate passion and enthusiasm for the region’s startup ecosystem and is thrilled to be part of the KCRise Fund team - where she continues to learn and grow within the space. In her free time, she enjoys long-distance running, exploring new destinations through travel, indulging in chai tea lattes, and pursuing a personal mission to visit all the national parks. She is also a proud cat mom to Eleanor and Jojo.