Skip to Navigation Skip to UConn Search Skip to Content
UConn University of Connecticut
Search University of Connecticut Search UConn
Site A-Z

UConn A-Z

School of Business

  • About
    • About the School

      • About the School
      • Fast Facts
      • Rankings: UConn School of Business Top-ranked by US News
      • Accreditation
    • Campuses

      • Storrs Campus
      • Hartford Campus
      • Hartford Campus – Graduate
      • Waterbury Campus
      • Stamford Campus
    • News & Events

      • Pressroom
      • Events
      • Featured Stories
      • Research
    • Contact

      • Office of the Dean
      • General Directory
      • Faculty Directory
      • Staff Directory
  • Programs
    • Undergraduate Degree

      • Advising
      • Majors
      • Minors
      • Scholarships
      • Accelerated Undergraduate-to-Graduate Programs
    • Graduate Programs

      • All Graduate Business Programs
      • Ph.D. in Business
      • Graduate Certificates
      • STEM Designated Programs
    • MBA Programs

      • MBA Programs Home Page
      • Compare our MBA Programs
      • FLEX MBA
      • Online MBA
      • Executive MBA (EMBA)
    • Specialized Masters

      • MS in Accounting
      • MS in Business Analytics & Project Management
      • MS in Financial and Enterprise Risk Management
      • MS in Financial Technology (FinTech)
      • MS in Human Resource Management
      • MS in Social Responsibility & Impact in Business
      • Accelerated Master’s Degree Programs
    • Professional Development

      • Digital Frontiers Initiative
      • Executive Education
      • Graduate Certificate Programs
  • Faculty & Research
    • Overview

      • Faculty
      • Research
      • Research Stories
      • Job Openings
    • Academic Areas

      • Academic Departments
      • Accounting
      • Finance
        • Health Care
        • Real Estate
      • Management & Entrepreneurship
      • Marketing
        • Business Law
      • Operations & Information Management
    • Faculty & Ph.D.s

      • Faculty Directory
      • Ph.D. Students Directory
      • Accounting Directory
      • Business Law Directory
      • Finance Directory
      • Healthcare Directory
      • Management Directory
      • Marketing Directory
      • Real Estate Directory
      • Operations and Information Management Directory
    • Research Centers

      • Center for Real Estate & Urban Economic Studies
      • Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis
      • Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
      • Daigle Labs
      • Digital Frontiers Initiative
      • GE Global Learning Center
  • Engagement & Outreach
    • Recruit

      • Undergraduates
      • Graduates
      • Alumni
    • Centers, Institutes, & Initiatives

      • Career Development Office
      • Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis
      • Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
      • Connecticut Information Technology Institute
      • Connecticut Small Business Development Center
      • Daigle Labs
      • Digital Frontiers Initiative
      • Diversity Initiatives
      • Family Business Program
      • Global Business Programs
      • Research Centers
    • Experiential Learning

      • Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans
      • Innovation Quest
      • International Trips
      • Student Managed Fund
    • Contact

      • Office of Engagement & Outreach
  • Search
      • A-Z Index
      • Faculty Directory
      • General Directory
    • Search this Site

Fueled by Curiosity and Hard Work, MSBAPM Student Wins International Sustainability Challenge

Posted on January 25, 2023February 25, 2025 by Claire Hall
Fueled by Curiosity and Hard Work, MSBAPM Student Wins International Sustainability Challenge
Fueled by Curiosity and Hard Work, MSBAPM Student Wins International Sustainability Challenge
Fueled by Curiosity and Hard Work, MSBAPM Student Wins International Sustainability Challenge
MSBAPM Student Ola Ogunseun (Contributed Photo)
MSBAPM Student Ola Ogunseun (Contributed Photo)

An insatiable curiosity, hard work, and a background in business development and planning helped UConn graduate student Olaoluwa ‘Ola’ Ogunseun and his team win a prestigious international competition.

Ogunseun won the U21/PwC Innovation Challenge, which brings together graduate students from 28 universities around the world. The four-month long competition, which ended in December, asked students to examine sustainability in business practices and recommend solutions.

The task was demanding for Ogunseun because he had little familiarity with the subject.

“It was a daunting project, but for me it was fueled by curiosity. I wanted to know what’s happening with sustainability and business. It’s a very big world out there!,” said Ogunseun, an MSBAPM student who will graduate in May. “I think all business schools should focus on how to protect the environment. What I learned through my research has been invaluable.”

Ogunseun’s background is in finance, business development, planning and risk management. Before joining the MSBAPM program in Stamford, he worked in different roles for major multinational corporations, including The British Council, Philip Morris International, KPMG, and GlaxoSmithKline. He said finance is his passion.

An announcement about the challenge caught his eye.

“When I saw the announcement, I thought ‘Let me give it a try,'” Ogunseun recalled. “The moment I started researching it, I got more and more interested. People might be well-informed about sustainability, but often don’t take it into consideration when they make business and personal decisions.”

For the first round of the competition, Ogunseun had to make a brief video highlighting his research. A bit of a perfectionist, he re-recorded it about 40 times, until it was just right. His presentation impressed the judges, and he was invited to the second-round challenge, a team event.

The group challenge asked participants to what extent governments should support the private sector in managing and prioritizing environmental, societal and governance (ESG) agendas. Recent research by PwC found that CEOs are still supporting strategies driven primarily by business metrics that are often at odds with sustainability.

Ogunseun’s team looked at factors that could be used to support positive change, such as creating an internationally agreed-upon standard of data collection to make decisions on climate change and having governments holding corporations accountable by strengthening regulations on labels such as ‘carbon neutral’ and cracking down on the misuse.

They also proposed linking the United Nations Climate Change Conference goals with incentives such as favorable business rates for companies that produce low emissions, and provide a greater focus on supporting climate-positive infrastructure.

His teammates included: Sarah Arsalan of McMaster University in Canada, Yuqing Liu from the National University of Singapore and Likitha Silapurem from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Although the competition was remote, it wasn’t easy tackling a project with contributors from different nationalities, backgrounds, and time zones. But their differences turned out to be a strength.

“The diversity and balance of the team was the differentiating factor,” Ogunseun said. “We all had different opinions, and that research and experience from daily life was brought into the project and let us include many different perspectives.”

He also credits UConn MSBAPM professor Eric Mckean and alumnus Alfredo Milera ’02, Head of CLO & Private Debt Solution Sales, North America, at S&P Global, with providing valuable guidance.

As joy-filled as the victory is, Ogunseun has also found a new interest. The competition introduced him to the new and promising field of ESG finance, where the bottom line is not based on financial gain but on the impact on the environment. It is something he plans to explore.

“We were really pleased with the innovative responses to the important challenge set to the students this year,” said Sally Jeffery, PwC Global Education and Skills Network Leader. “I would say to the students that we live in a very complex world where it is important to have an opinion, and to be courageous about that opinion.”

“The world is changing so fast,” Ogunseun said. “It’s great to team up with different people, from around the world, to explore new ideas. Globalization is here. What happens in New York impacts Europe and Africa and the rest of the world. I think people should see themselves not as individuals, not as a particular nationality, but as global citizens.”

Ogunseun’s work will be among the student experiences highlighted at the School of Business’ Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit on March 24. Updated information will soon be available at global.business.uconn.edu

Categories:
Alumni, Department News, Feature, Feature Secondary, Global Engagement, Graduate Case Competitions, MSBAPM, News, presstop
Share on:
facebookFacebook TwitterTwitter LinkedInLinkedIn emailEmail

You might be interested in:

Professor Fasheng Yu accepting the 2025 Chelliah Sriskandarajah Early Career Research Accomplishments Award at the POMS Annual conference (contributed photo)
OPIM Professor Fasheng Xu, a ‘Forward-Thinking’ Scholar, Wins Early Career Award
Exterior photo of the Wilbur Cross Building at UConn in Storrs, CT.
Accounting Professor George Plesko Wins Award for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship
Tony Bertoldi '89, CEO of CREA, at the 2025 Real Estate Awards Banquet in Storrs. (Zack Wussow Media)
CREA Foundation Creates Two Scholarships, Bonus Opportunities for Real Estate Students

← Previous
Next →

View News by Category

Recent News

  • OPIM Professor Fasheng Xu, a ‘Forward-Thinking’ Scholar, Wins Early Career Award
  • Accounting Professor George Plesko Wins Award for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship
  • CREA Foundation Creates Two Scholarships, Bonus Opportunities for Real Estate Students
  • Commencement Speaker: Servant Leadership Distinguishes Top Companies, Stellar Executives from the Rest
  • Their Final Class Project? A Beer-Tasting Showdown

All News »

Upcoming Events

    https://events.uconn.edu/live/json/v2/events/response_fields/location,summary/date_format/%25F%20%25j,%20%25Y/group/School of Business/max/3/start_date/today/end_date/6 months/
  • May
    21
    MS BAPM Virtual Information Session
  • May
    27
    STEM Virtual Office Hour
  • May
    28
    MS SRIB Virtual Information Session
engagement pixel ftmba_rt pixel ptmba_rt emba_rt mshrm_rt msbapm_rt msa_rt

Related Content

  • Recruiters
  • Alumni
  • Make a Gift
  • Pressroom
  • Faculty/Staff Resources
  • Student Resources
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • © University of Connecticut
  • Disclaimers, Privacy & Copyright
  • Accessibility
  • Webmaster Login
  • Student Consumer Information
  • A-Z Index
  • General Directory