George Okpamen, MBA '23
George Okpamen, MBA '23, believes in betting on yourself. It's a belief that gave him the confidence to pursue a doctorate in pharmacy, explore various aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, and shift gears to go after a master's of business administration. His bets have been paying off. Since joining the Michigan Ross Full-Time MBA Program, George has taken on a number of leadership roles both within and beyond Michigan Ross. As a graduate of a Historically Black College and University, Texas Southern, he is currently an HBCUvc Fellow completing his summer internship with the venture capital firm Bloomberg Beta.
Starting in Healthcare
George's career path was influenced by a formative visit to Nigeria his senior year of high school. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Nigeria, and this was George's first time visiting the country. George said that spending time in Nigeria with his grandparents and extended family made him think more about his legacy, and shifted his attention from sports — at which he had excelled in Houston — to thoughts about what would come after high school. He decided that like his father, he would pursue a degree in pharmacy.
"[The trip] changed my perspective in terms of not just thinking about myself, but my legacy and the long-term impact I could have for my family and others. My dad had been trying to get me to be a pharmacist forever, especially since he did not achieve his goal of being one; that was when I decided to pursue healthcare in pharmacy specifically. As his first son, I felt the duty to finish what he had started," said George.
After completing pre-pharmacy studies at The University of Houston and earning his doctorate in pharmacy from Texas Southern University, George accepted a fellowship with the biopharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which gave him unique experiences in global public policy, payer brand marketing, consumer product marketing, and corporate startups strategy. Through these varied experiences, George began to think about how he could "impact innovations at scale." As he put it, "I wanted to make sure that I understood the actual business, as well as how to create, shape, and grow businesses." He saw an MBA as his next step to achieving that goal, and began his application journey.
George said that while he considered a number of other top MBA programs, he ultimately chose Michigan Ross because of the people he met during the admissions process and the UpClose Diversity Weekend. As George said,
I felt like I wasn't just another number. I felt like Michigan was celebrating me as a continuously evolving leader and not just tolerating me for my past achievements. It’s hard to put into words; they just really made me feel like I belonged.
George said he also felt confident that Michigan Ross was a school at which he could specifically focus on his burgeoning interests in entrepreneurship and venture capital. “I have always been interested and probably even gifted at creating branding, curating culture, and cultivating community. As I continue to grow and focus on my calling in life over just a career, I wanted to take these two years and see if I could turn my “branding ideas” into a business or leverage my combined thesis of “culture, community, and capital” to fund multiple companies. In short, I wanted to take these two years to really innovate and invest in my ideas, which is the essence of entrepreneurship and venture capital.”
Leading the Way
Since starting at Michigan Ross, George has been an integral part of shaping the Michigan Ross FinTech Initiative, a co-curricular endeavor spearheaded by Business+Tech that explores the intersection of finance and tech through coursework, research, and programming. During the 2021-22 school year, George's involvement led to the launch of the “Defining Fintech Initiative”, which hosted 10 CEOs and senior executive leaders to teach students during a five-week training and multi-campus competition. As part of his leadership with the Defining Fintech Initiative, George was also able to hire and mentor two undergraduate BBA students interested in growing their leadership skills and knowledge of fintech. "It's been amazing to see the growth of Grace and Peter, and to know that even after this, they're going to be people that I'll probably be working for," George said.
In addition to his leadership with the FinTech Initiative, George is an active investment associate for the Michigan Ross Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund, a student-run, early-stage investment fund that identifies promising startups within the University of Michigan and surrounding community. As a student investor, George collaborated with fellow MBAs to conduct diligence on potential investment opportunities, directly invested in two companies, and tracked the growth of both companies throughout the school year. Through the Zell Lurie Institute, George was also able to spend a fully-funded week in Silicon Valley, via the inaugural Silicon Valley Experience, meeting with owners and operators of startups, investors and innovators inside venture firms, and Michigan Ross alumni across the entire ecosystem.
George said his experience with the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund helped prepare him for his summer internship with Bloomberg Beta, an early stage venture capital firm with $375M under management, focused on investments in machine intelligence and the future of work. As George shared, "All of their returns go into Bloomberg philanthropies to help ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people.” George has been able to gain a good deal of hands-on venture capital experience with the firm and even has the opportunity to pursue one of his own business ideas. Combining his thesis of “culture, community, and capital” with Bloomberg's expertise in “media, technology, and business," George aims to launch the concept he’s coining, Opportunity to Connect, later this year.
George also noted the immersive, seven-week Multidisciplinary Action Project course as another formative MBA experience. MAP is an action-based learning course that challenges teams of students to devise creative solutions to pressing business problems at sponsor companies, and typically involves onsite visits. George and his team worked with Related Companies, a commercial real estate firm owned by the school's namesake, Stephen M. Ross. They traveled to the company's headquarters in New York City multiple times to plan and prepare their recommendations. During the final week, the team presented their recommendations to Related’s executive leadership team, including Mr. Ross. George described his MAP experience as "transformational" and noted that his team was so impactful that one of his teammates even secured an internship with the firm as a result.
Looking Ahead
At the midpoint of his MBA, there's still much that George plans to tackle. He is the incoming president for the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) Club and he intends to continue his involvement with groups like the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund and the FinTech Initiative. He has yet to determine how he'd like to leverage his entrepreneurial and investment experiences after graduation. If his concept “Opportunity to Connect” is successful, George fully plans to turn the concept into a company, to again prove out his insight that “innovation happens at the intersection."
George believes he'll have more time in his second year for leadership roles, including with the Michigan Social Club: "I'll be leading [the planning for] our winter formal this year. I have a few fun tricks up my sleeve and of course I do love to dress up every now and then."
George's advice for those considering applying to the Full-Time MBA program? It's words he himself has taken to heart:
Be bold with your vision, intentional with your actions, and always bet on yourself.