On March 24, 2023, a passionate group of industry experts, alumni, faculty, and professors gathered in-person and virtually, for the second annual University of Connecticut School of Business’ Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit.

Offering a blend of optimism and stark reality about the future of business and the planet, the summit highlighted existing sustainability initiatives ongoing globally and within the United States of America, spotlighting the exceptional experiences and interventions of global sustainability champions, alongside outstanding students’ experiences.

Rising sustainability champion and University of Connecticut’s alumni, Olaoluwa Ogunseun was in the spotlight, with his work featured among the remarkable student experiences highlighted at the summit. In December, last year, Ogunseun had won the global U21/PwC Innovation Challenge, which brings together graduate students from 28 universities around the world.

The four-month long competition, asked students to examine and assess sustainability in business practices and recommend solutions. Fueled by sheer grit, hard work, a background in business development and planning, alongside an insatiable professional level of excellence, Olaoluwa won the Global Sustainability challenge, alongside 3 other students from Canada, Australia and Singapore.

As more and more consumers demand that brands and product manufacturers do more to increase their sustainability efforts. Olaoluwa believes that sustainability analytics holds a significantly greater benefit for the global environment, an insight he proudly shared in the company of sustainability leaders such as Dinah A. Koehler (Head of ESG Research – FactSet), Sara Harari (Associate Director of Innovation & Strategic Advisor to the President at the Connecticut Green Bank) and many others at 2023 University of Connecticut School of Business’s Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit.

As proffered by Olaoluwa, Sustainability initiatives using analytics will form a great part of the discussions at COP28 in December. The event will feature the first Global Stock take, GST, which will provide a comprehensive assessment of progress on the implementation of the Paris Agreement since its adoption, helping to align efforts on climate action and outlining measures for bridging the gaps in progress. Interestingly, Olaoluwa is part of the analysts on the team that will be working with other global world leaders to advance sustainability analytics at the event, a privilege he earned by winning the 2022 Global Sustainability challenge.

With over 10 years of experience across Finance, Analytics, Project Management and Sustainability, Olaoluwa has led exceptional sustainability initiative projects across Europe and Africa with multinational companies in the tobacco, pharmaceutical and food industries amongst others. A BSc holder in Finance & Accounting, alongside a graduate degree in Business Analytics and Project Management, Olaoluwa is a qualified accountant and a certified Project Manager. He has consistently maintained being in the top 1% of his class, as evidenced in both his BSc and graduate degree grades.

In today’s dynamic and ever advancing world, Olaoluwa’s proven expertise in finance, analytics, project management and sustainability are top in-demand and rare skills for successful professionals. In the words of Mattew Blake, Head, Shaping the Future of Financial and Sustainable Monetary Systems, at the World Economic Forum “As sustainable finance and ESG increasingly inform capital allocation decisions, building strong data and analytical skills to harness these factors is of critical importance for professionals from any discipline. This directory serves as a dynamic information source and repository for individuals rising to that challenge”.

Over the last decade, Nigeria has experienced a surge in the number of extraordinary youths who are making waves in different dimensions of development globally like Olaoluwa. From finance, to capital development, technology, human resources management and even entertainment. This year, Burna Boy becomes the first African Artiste to perform at the UEFA Champions League final, Hilda Baci achieved a new Guinness World Records (GWR), for the longest cooking marathon by an individual and 10 Nigerian youth led startups, made it as Google, unveiled its 25 African startups for its Startups for Black Founders Fund this month.

Currently, Olaoluwa is championing sustainability initiatives in the Pet Care Industry in the United State of America, leading a first of its kind project. He is building Finance and sustainability analytics for assessing business sustainability against collapse and pet waste generated from all locations nationwide, this is a leading and amazing initiative where web analytical tools will be deployed to generate, create waste management reports to measure various metrics on the impact to the environment, people, animals and as well as control measure towards negative reduction on the environment and promote eco-friendly practices.