40 Next: Milton & Frederick Ochieng

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.

Milton & Frederick Ochieng, 29 & 28
Co-Founders
Lwala Community Alliance, Rongo, Kenya
Compelled by tragic events, the Ochieng’ brothers established the Lwala Community Alli

ance, a nonprofit that battles illness and poverty in their village in Kenya. Milton, a resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, and Fred, a medical student at Vanderbilt, in Nashville, Tennessee, raised $100,000 and in 2007 opened the Ochieng’ Memorial Lwala Community Health Center, which has seen more than 32,000 patients. Their goal: to raise $1.25 million over five years and open a maternity facility.

Milton
Education
Dartmouth College, B.A. molecular biology and biochemistry, class of 2004
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, M.D., class of 2008

Favorite Book
Think Big by Ben Carson, MD

BE Next Manifesto
To be able to ask myself: What is it that I did today that made a difference in someone else’s life that nobody else would have done or wanted to do?

Frederick
Education
Dartmouth/B.A./biophysical chemistry
Vanderbilt M.D./2010; medicine/pediatrics

Favorite Book
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

BE Next Manifesto
I hope to inspire people to take heart, dream big, and take a leap of faith, even in the face of adversity; to better the
world around them. For God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.