Ashoka
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Peter Kellner, whose vision, generosity, and unwavering belief in the potential of young people helped shape Youth Venture and the lives of countless young changemakers in 37 countries around the world.
As a longtime board member, Peter brought not only extraordinary entrepreneurial insight and global perspective, but also a deep commitment to building a world in which every young person has the power to create change in their community.
Peter’s legacy lives on in the thousands of young people who discovered their own agency because someone believed in their ideas. He will be profoundly missed, and we are deeply grateful for the wisdom, partnership, and humility he shared with all of us.
Peter Bicknell Kellner, 56, passed away on July 10, 2026, at his home in Chestnut Hill, MA. Peter was a powerful force of nature who touched countless lives, and he will be profoundly missed. Born in New York City on September 5, 1969,
Peter grew up in Manhattan, where he attended the Allen-Stevenson School followed by Milton Academy in Milton, MA for high school. He was a graduate of Princeton University (AB, School of Public & International Affairs), Harvard Business School (MBA), and Yale Law School (JD).
Peter was a visionary and entrepreneur and leader who repeatedly saw opportunities before others did, and who poured his own life force into creating and building what he envisioned. He also mentored and supported countless other entrepreneurs and builders, sharing his passion and connections and insights as widely as he could, with incredible generosity. Over the course of his career, he invested, worked, and lived across five continents.
After college, Peter served as a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary, where he co-founded the Environmental Management & Law Association (EMLA), modeled on the NRDC.
In 1996, he co-founded Endeavor Global with Linda Rottenberg, who had been leading Ashoka efforts in the Southern Cone, an organization that works to support the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems across forty-nine countries. Peter took a leave of absence from Yale Law School to move to Chile to establish the first country office.
He has served on several Endeavor boards including Chile, Global, Jordan, Miami, and Midwest. The inspiration for Endeavor for Peter came from his close mentor Bill Drayton and Ashoka, which supports social entrepreneurs around the world.
Peter was a long-serving Board Member of Ashoka's Youth Venture, supporting young people with his deep commitment to build a world where everyone has the power to create change in their community.
Peter was Managing Partner at Richmond Global LLC, which he created nearly three decades ago to partner with and invest in entrepreneurs building transformative technologies, with a focus on early- and growth-stage companies pursuing global opportunities. Peter was the first investor in three unicorns and an early investor in numerous successful companies, including Salesforce, Toast, Compass, Dataminr, Rubicon, aQuantive, Bols, CAIS, and Americanas.
In 2017, Peter founded Richmond Global Compass, a macro fund dedicated to proving the value of investing in alignment with positive environmental, social and governance standards. Most recently, immediately prior to his passing, Peter was in the midst of designing a transformative frontier approach to AI governance, drawing upon his entire life history to fuel his insights about what was and is needed for humanity to navigate the age of AI.
Peter was a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Explorers Club. He served on the boards of America Media | The Jesuit Review and the Yale Law School Fund.
Peter always lit up the room with his unique mix of intensity, humor and charm. Across many decades, geographies and settings, Peter formed lasting relationships through his genuine inquisitiveness, warmth, and generosity of spirit. He was a friend who either led or said “yes” to wild adventures and made sure to include the widest group imaginable, to the benefit of all.