Making a Difference with Business

Omukoko Okoth ’25 chose Oberlin College for its values and opportunities, and to take advantage of all that Oberlin has to offer, he decided to participate in the business integrative concentration.

When entering college, Omukoko did not have a concrete plan about what he wanted to pursue, but he knew he wanted to make a positive difference in the world.

“I chose Oberlin because I believed one person could change the world, and I learned of Oberlin's commitment to be the force of good in a world that craves hope, kindness, and shared prosperity,” he says.

Besides this philosophy, he entered college with a completely open mind. He ended up choosing to declare an economics major. “I have learned about the interaction of the forces of demand and supply in a world of unlimited human wants and limited resources,” he says of his experience in the major. Then, he describes how he found himself pulled towards business.

“As I gained exposure through my classes, interacting with peers, Winter Term projects, and reading, I appreciated the enormous significance of business in our society,” he says. He realized that business is threaded through many aspects of our world today, and that understanding it could better equip him to achieve his goals. 

While his major gave him an excellent grasp of economic concepts, taking business classes taught him how those concepts are applied across disciplines within complex, open-ended problem-solving. 

“Economics has given me a theoretical framework of understanding how businesses and individuals make decisions to optimize outcomes, while business has given me a practical case of those frameworks at play,” Omukoko says. 

What he learned in economics classes has complemented what he learned in business classes, and he is excited to graduate in the spring with a concentration in business. His interest in business is related to his upbringing. 

“My interest in business stems from recognizing the wide gap between capital and ideas,” he explains. “This is especially true for my home country, Kenya, where there is a young, brilliant, innovative, and entrepreneurial population whose exceptional ideas do not spring forth due to a lack of capital.”

Omukoko feels motivated to improve upon this, using the knowledge he has gained in his classes. 

“I hope to learn more about business and economics, understand how capital flows, and use my knowledge and research to promote greater efficiency and mobility of capital,” he states.

Not only is this his goal, but he is actively working towards it at present.

“Thanks in part to business classes, today I run an organization called LeadAfrik,” he says. “It provides a mutual mentorship platform for university students in Kenya, equipping them with tools to take on the mantle of leadership with courage and adherence to values of excellence.”

Because business at Oberlin is all about turning learning into action, Omukoko can apply what he knows to doing something he cares about. He discusses his gratitude for what the business integrative concentration has taught him.

“Beyond the knowledge I have acquired from my classes, business has enabled me to adopt a new way of thinking—where I am keen to notice where opportunities lie and, most importantly, think creatively about how to tap into those opportunities.”

Want to know how you could make a difference with business? Explore what you could do with the business program at Oberlin.

Want to know how you could make a difference with business? Explore what you could do with the business program at Oberlin.