In celebration of our 40th anniversary, Black Enterprise is taking a look both forward and backward at the world of black business. Our list of 40 Next celebrates the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders.
These BE Nexters–those 21—35 years old making a measurable impact within their respective business, organization, industry, or field–are standouts in the areas of entrepreneurship, corporate America, academia, nonprofit, the arts, and the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). And they prove every day that “business as usual” is not so usual. For them, leveraging expertise in one area to maximize an opportunity in another is standard operating procedure.
Using the legacy of their business predecessors to forge their own way, this new generation of leadership accepts the torch without trepidation. But the commonality between then and now is that success still takes a focused, strategic, and passionate mindset. Here, we introduce you to one of our 40 Next.
Folu Okunseinde, 29
Solutions Architect, IBM/Financial Services Solutions Group
Cambridge, MA
Okunseinde built high-speed messaging software used by clients in the financial services industry to disseminate information and execute orders for financial trades. It moves a message from one place to another in a millisecond, which can translate into millions of dollars and potentially aid other industries dealing with significant waves of data.