Sherrese Clarke is a visionary 2-time Founder & CEO having spent over 20 years in corporate finance, capital markets, investment banking, and private equity. Sherrese founded HarbourView Equity Partners to create a next generation private equity firm focused on the entertainment and media space, to help shape, impact and influence culture. Prior to starting HarbourView, Sherrese founded Tempo Music where she served as CEO and Board Director. At Tempo, she formed a strategic partnership with Warner Music Group, brought on Providence Equity Partners to back the venture, and delivered an above average IRR for the investment class.
Previously, Sherrese was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, having spent close to 15 years in several roles at the firm and most recently leading the Entertainment, Media, & Sports Structured Solutions Platform, devising a cross asset strategy focused on capital solutions for intellectual property. During her 10-year tenure, she managed the origination and execution of $85B+ in loan commitments for the firm and served as Deputy Chair of the Capital Commitment Committee. Prior to Morgan Stanley, she was one of the three founding senior leaders to develop the Entertainment Practice at CIT Group, overseeing a $1B portfolio across entertainment companies. Sherrese received a B.S. in Finance from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
She is a former board member of Evoqua Holdings (NYSE: AQUA) and Planned Parenthood Federation of America where she served as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee. She is also a board trustee at Carnegie Hall and a board member of the Toigo Foundation. She is a recipient of the Billboard 2021 Change Agent, Class of 2020 – 2025 Billboard Women in Music awards and the Buyouts Class of 2022 Women in PE. She was also included in the 2022 – 2026 Billboard Power 100, 2024-2026 Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Power Player, 2024 – 2025 Variety 500, 2025-2026 Billboard Country Power Players, Variety Women’s Impact Report 2022 and Inc. Magazine’s 2023 Female Founders Most Dynamic Women Entrepreneurs List. Sherrese was the recipient of Billboard’s prestigious Trailblazer Award in 2023 and in 2025 received the inaugural Harry Belafonte Change Agent Award from BMAC – honoring a leader who is fearlessly dismantling barriers. In 2026 Sherese was named to Forbes’s second annual BLK 50.