You might say Temidayo 鈥楧ayo鈥� Akinjisola ’17 was hard at work in supply chain management long before he undertook the study of it.
The University of Rhode Island senior, a political science and supply chain management double major, had his first introduction to the concept at 5, when stocking the shelves of his father鈥檚 Cranston, R.I. convenience store, BD Mart.
Akinjisola鈥檚 mom, a nurse, worked on the weekends. So Akinjisola, his father, and his two younger siblings, sister, Toyin 鈥�18, and brother, Jide, would spend their weekends at the store, sweeping floors, stocking shelves, and waiting on the regulars, who would chat up the children as they got their coffees, newspapers and lottery tickets.
Akinjisola鈥檚 parents, Nigerian immigrants, laid their bets on their kids. Not even school sports were allowed to get in the way of schoolwork. And, forget television. The only good TV was no TV. (Akinjisola鈥檚 father would feel the back of the television set when he returned home, just to be sure his kids stayed on track.) 鈥淭hey were all about education, education and hard work,鈥� Akinjisola said.
Arguably, so is Akinjisola. Just weeks after his May 21 commencement exercises, the 21-year-old Providence, R.I. native will report to Brown University鈥檚 campus as a Venture for America fellow. The highly competitive social enterprise nonprofit program (only 10 percent of applicants are accepted) aims to revitalize America鈥檚 cities through entrepreneurship. It pairs top college graduates with promising startups. Akinjisola will spend five weeks at a 鈥渢raining camp,鈥� a deep dive into business and entrepreneurial skills-building. Then, in August, it鈥檚 off to his as-yet-to-be-determined startup, where he will work for two years.
Community building and ground-floor ventures are nothing new for Akinjisola. Nor is recognition. Akinjisola is president of the , which received the University鈥檚 A. Robert Rainville Team Excellence Award earlier this spring in part for its work leading a student-run annual conference, 鈥淒iversifying Individuals Via Education鈥� (DIVE RI), that has attracted college students from around the northeast. The conference inspired students from Boston University to start their own student-led diversity conference and prompted 911爆料 to offer course credit to students who work on the conference.
鈥淓verything we do is of the students by the students and for students,鈥� said Akinjisola, who co-founded the conference with four upperclassmen. In its first year, the conference hosted more than 200 attendees from across the northeast. 鈥淭hree years later, I鈥檓 the last line of defense. It鈥檚 been really cool,鈥� Akinjisola said.
鈥淪tudent organizations offer the real-life, applicable skills you need. They enable you to cultivate and develop skills for when you leave. I鈥檝e learned about budgeting, financials, discussing and negotiating, presenting a business proposal,鈥� Akinjisola said. 鈥淭he conference is the thing I鈥檓 most proud of. It was just an idea and to have it happen, to have people come to it was amazing. We created that space to allow people to develop themselves.鈥�
Akinjisola is also a resident assistant, a member of the University of Rhode Island Student Senate, treasurer of , a group dedicated to supporting the growth of young men of color on the University鈥檚 campus, and recruitment manager for , a program that pairs college students with low-income, academically motivated students in Providence middle schools 鈥� a program Akinjisola once participated in as a middle school student himself. One mentor in particular would 鈥渁lways hit me with knowledge,鈥� Akinjisola recalled. 鈥淗e鈥檇 say, 鈥楥onsider yourself a blank canvas.鈥� Whenever he saw a problem, he made it a priority to fix it.
鈥淭hat was a mantra I took on.鈥�
Akinjisola intends to bring all of his experience to bear on his next venture. He has an idea to develop the cultural competency skills of teachers in schools with highly diverse populations. 鈥淚鈥檝e always had great teachers who were invested in my success,鈥� he noted.
Then, perhaps law school.
The hard work ahead serves only to energize Akinjisola. Stocking shelves, sweeping floors, planning conferences, mentoring middle school students and studying, always studying: Akinjisola鈥檚 is an education that has happened as much outside the classroom as within it. And he welcomes the chance to test theory through practice. 鈥淭here are no shortcuts to being a great leader,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to go through experiences where you make big mistakes to learn from them.鈥�
Big mistakes seem a farfetched future for one so successful so young. If they should happen, though, Akinjisola will likely remember the lessons of his parents, his teachers, and his mentors.
鈥淭here are a lot of problems in the world, but the world would be a better place if people did what they were passionate about,鈥� Akinjisola said. 鈥淵ou can be the one to fix the problem.鈥�