Jacob Walthour Jr. Named the Divide — Then Went to Work Closing It

Let me tell you about Jacob Walthour Jr.

The phrase he handed New Jersey in 2019 still does the work: “Two New Jerseys.” It came during testimony before the state Senate — a cleareyed accounting of the communities riding the state’s growth and the communities locked out of it. Walthour has spent his career since trying to shrink the distance between the two.

The Work

Walthour is the founder and CEO of Blueprint Capital Advisors, an investment management and strategic advisory firm that connects capital with opportunity across venture capital, private markets and emerging investment platforms. He also founded Power100 by Blueprint Capital Advisors, which convenes influential leaders across the institutional investment community to create connection, visibility and engagement among the professionals shaping the future of capital. In July 2026, he was named a 2026 Melanin Money 100 Honoree in the Capital, Investment & Wealth Management category — a class that also included John Hope Bryant, Dr. Paul Judge, Ben Crump, Morgan DeBaun, Imani Ellis of CultureCon and Detavio Samuels of REVOLT. Melanin Money, the financial-education platform behind the list, convened more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors and executives for its Wealth Weekend in Atlanta that same month. Two months later, the Alpha Alpha Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. named Walthour its Financial Empowerment & Equity Honoree at its Centennial Gala in Whippany, New Jersey. His profile also includes a Milken Institute appointment and a Bloomberg Businessweek feature.

The Roots

Walthour has been a member of Alpha Phi Alpha since 1987, and he ties his work to the lineage the fraternity produced — Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John H. Johnson and W.E.B. Du Bois. “Leadership carries a responsibility to create opportunity for others,” he said upon the honor. His New Jersey advocacy has focused on the disparities that show up in education, health care, income and wealth — the gaps he named on the record years ago and has been working to close through capital ever since.

Why You Should Know Him

Because access is the whole ballgame. Walthour’s argument is that capital is not charity; it is infrastructure. When institutional money reaches historically overlooked managers, firms and businesses, it builds the relationships, expertise and networks that compound across generations. That is the difference between a grant and a legacy — and Walthour is building the latter.

Quick facts

• Founder & CEO, Blueprint Capital Advisors
• Named a 2026 Melanin Money 100 Honoree (Capital, Investment & Wealth Management)
• Founder of Power100 by Blueprint Capital Advisors
• Member of Alpha Phi Alpha since 1987; 2026 Financial Empowerment & Equity Honoree, Alpha Alpha Lambda Chapter Centennial Gala (Sept 19, 2026, Whippany, NJ)
• Coined “Two New Jerseys” in 2019 New Jersey Senate testimony

📸 Photo: PR Newswire / Blueprint Capital Advisors

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