T.J. Breeden

Dr. T.J. Breeden is the founder and Managing Partner of Fuze Fund, a venture platform focused on expanding access to capital for early-stage founders who have historically been underrepresented in traditional investment markets, including minority, women, and veteran-led ventures. Through Fuze Fund, he leads fund strategy, partnership development, ecosystem engagement, and founder support for the firm’s flagship $30 million venture capital fund.

Dr. Breeden’s work sits at the intersection of philanthropy, capital markets, education, entrepreneurship, and community economic development. He currently serves as Director of Trustee Organizing at ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, where he leads national efforts to engage philanthropic trustees, board leaders, and governance partners around responsive philanthropy, racial equity, and institutional accountability. In this role, he helps advance strategies that strengthen trustee leadership, deepen governance practice, and support more effective philanthropic investment in Black communities.

He also serves as Co-Chair of United Philanthropy Forum’s Rural Equity Peer Community, helping guide national conversations on how philanthropy can better support rural communities facing racial, geographic, and economic inequities. This work reflects his broader commitment to advancing equitable prosperity across both urban and rural contexts, particularly where public, private, and philanthropic investment systems have historically fallen short.

Dr. Breeden’s venture capital journey began in 2021, building on more than a decade of work as Founder and Executive Director of Emerging Entrepreneurs, Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to advancing the economic interests of underserved communities, including military families, women, urban youth, and minority populations. Over the years, his programs have impacted more than 10,000 veterans, founders, and youth through entrepreneurship training, workforce development, STEM education, and ecosystem-building initiatives.

For this work, Dr. Breeden has received national recognition, including being honored by President Obama as a White House “Champion of Change” and being named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “Veterans Entrepreneurship Advocate of the Year.” He has also been recognized by Black Enterprise as a “Modern Man of Distinction” and received the Cathy Hughes “Business Community Service” Award and the Dr. John Hope Franklin “Humanitarian of the Year” Award from Radio One for his contributions to economic empowerment and community impact.

In 2024, Dr. Breeden was accepted into the U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Speaker Program, where he engages global audiences on social entrepreneurship, educational equity, inclusive economic development, and equitable venture investment. His speaking and advisory work focuses on how institutions can align capital, policy, philanthropy, and leadership practice to expand opportunity in communities too often excluded from growth.

Dr. Breeden holds a Doctorate of Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management, and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from East Carolina University. His doctoral research examined the underrepresentation of African American women and girls in STEM education and the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in bridging equity gaps.

Dr. Breeden is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and a lifelong North Carolinian.