A homeless, shivering High School student living in his car by night and attending school during the day would take every lesson endured in these early days to become a leader with grit and grace. Now the CEO of Kickstarter, the world’s premiere crowdfunding platform, Everette Taylor is a creative entrepreneur and a marketing maverick known for elevating the work of artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs. In his role at Kickstarter, Taylor is one of the few black CEOs running a major tech company.

Before joining Kickstarter, Everette most recently served as the CMO of Artsy, the largest online marketplace for buying and selling fine art. During his time at Artsy, he was...