Kneeland C. Youngblood

Kneeland C. Youngblood was born in Galena Park, Texas, on December 13, 1955. He studied political science at Princeton University, graduating in 1978, and earned a medical degree at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. In a 2016 congressional tribute, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson described his early work in emergency medicine in Dallas and his later transition into business, and the tribute explicitly identifies him as Black.

Youngblood practiced emergency medicine from 1985 to 1997, including at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas and at the Medical Center of Plano, before turning to business. In 1997, he co-founded Pharos Capital Group with Michael Devlin and Robert Crants. A Princeton alumni profile notes his transition from emergency room doctor to businessman.

The firm's biography describes his work as founding partner, chairman and chief executive, with responsibility for overall strategy and work across portfolio companies, alongside service on its funds' investment committees. Pharos, based in Dallas, is a physician-founded firm that typically invests $25 million to $50 million in healthcare companies seeking later-stage funding for internal growth and acquisitions, connecting his business career with a field in which he trained and practiced. The firm describes its investments in terms of expanding access to care, lowering costs and improving outcomes, including in underserved communities.

His professional record also includes board service at companies such as Starwood Hotels, Burger King and Gap, documented governance roles alongside the collaborative work of building an investment firm. He serves as a trustee of the California Institute of Technology as well. He has also discussed healthcare investing with the National Association of Investment Companies, the association of diverse-owned alternative investment firms.