Sanyakhu-Sheps Amare' is the Principal and founder of BlueLeaf Advisors. As Principal/Founder of one of New York State's first Neighborhood Preservation Companies in the late 70's, Sanyakhu-Sheps Amare' set up the first help desk inside the housing courts in the Bronx, NYC helping Pro Se tenants. He was later one of four co-founders of the City-Wide Task Force on the Housing Courts, assisting those who could not afford an attorney from illegal evictions to lack of basic apartment services. In the early 80's Amare hosted one of the first online bulletin boards in the country called NABCON, at a time when modems ran at 300, 1200, and 2400 bands! He co-founded and pioneered an internet broadband service called Sphinx Communication Group. In conjunction with Medical Computer Systems Planning (now called MCSP.com) a Sphinx strategic partner in Washington, DC, he launched an online computer conferencing service. Through the online services, Amare' did his part to bridge the digital divide providing free internet services to national and local churches and professional organizations of color. Amare' hosted the first online electronic medical magazine called Reproductive Sciences, and later formed a joint venture company called Sphinx Internet Services, and launched one of the first internet broadband services from his brownstone in Brooklyn NY, and offices in DC, utilizing 56K modems and X 25, Q40's and Tl-T3 broadband connections ...all before the WEB.
Amare’ did his undergrad in finance at Loyola University of Montreal and received his master’s from New Hampshire College’s, Community Economic Development program in’96. The college became Southern New Hampshire University, where he became an adjunct professor teaching online communications and community economic development at the Graduate School of Business. He established the university’s first online distant education course. He worked with numerous community-based organizations assisting them with organization and board development; and self-sufficiency as an organizational solution for their sustainability.
Ever on the visionary cutting edge, he noticed new energy trends not tested and implemented in poorer communities and municipalities, so in 2002, he founded Phoenix Communities, a non-profit organization looking to establish microgrids in these communities to reduce their energy costs. Phoenix Communities also explored new potential revenue streams from microgrids that could create sustainable jobs and business opportunities communities and organizations. He later co-founded Urban Electric, LLC in Louisiana, again exploring the establishment of a microgrid pilot project for the New Orleans Housing Authority.
Subsequently, in 2007, he co-founded and became the Chief Community Economic Development Officer of SEWW Energy, Inc. (Sun Earth Wind Water). SEWW Energy was then a community economic development company utilizing microgrids and other energy renewable technologies, both domestically and abroad.
Wanting to further broaden his community economic development activities to the broader vision of the “removal of barriers to sustainable needs,” Amare’ formed BlueLeaf Advisors and Associates Corporation. While BlueLeaf still included his focus on microgrids, Amare’ expanded his vision, centering on innovative community economic development in vertical farms, business development and operations.
During this time, in collaboration with The Alliance Institute of New Orleans and Wall Street Without Walls, Mr. Amare’ was an initial co-founder of a new CED development initiative in the gulf coast states called The Alliance Financial Institute (AFI). The mission of AFI was to assist small to moderatesized towns, cities and communities to engage their participation in the identification, planning, and development of capital improvement programs aimed at revitalization, resiliency, and recovery. It was here that he adopted the strategy of creatively attracting capital funding investors, through religious pension funds to finance community economic development, asset development and sustainability projects.
With the passing of two of his close friends and associates, Carlton Muldrow, Esq. and Fern Jones (one of the earliest Black female broker-dealers in the country), in late 2016 and mid-2017, he restructured and formed BlueLeaf Advisors, Inc.