My name is Onyeka Obiocha. I was born in Windsor, CT to Nigerian immigrants who, after surviving the Nigerian-Biafran civil war, moved to America in search of a brighter future. Their courage, curiosity, and creativity have fundamentally shaped my personal and professional journey.

I attended the University of Connecticut where I majored in Economics and built Sharelogical, an e-commerce platform leveraging affiliate marketing to enable consumers to make charitable donations. After that startup failed, I took my first job developing a corporate social responsibility program for a food startup. 

I eventually left the CSR world to begin creating one of my proudest achievements. With my business partner Vishal, I launched A Happy Life, a coffee roasting company and coffee shop with the mission to create a happier world for all. To embed this social mission into the fabric of our business, I was a part of a coalition organizing business owners and politicians to successfully pass Benefit Corporation legislation in CT. Through this process, I saw the opportunity to leverage entrepreneurial and innovative mindsets to realize social justice and economic liberation. As a result, I co-founded Breakfast Lunch & Dinner, a startup studio specializing in economic and community development. Through my work with Breakfast Lunch & Dinner, I received Connecticut Magazine’s 40 Under 40 award.

 I eventually sold A Happy Life, and accepted a position building social innovation programming at Yale University. I later transitioned to the become the first ever Director of Innovation at Dwight Hall the Center for Public Service and Social Justice. In my current position as Managing Director of the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale, I aim to build a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem inclusive of Yale and New Haven.  

Throughout my career, I have had the immense pleasure of serving as a mentor for Backstage Capital; teaching entrepreneurship skills to college students in New Haven, Budapest, and Beijing; hitchhiking from South Carolina to Connecticut; serving as a member of U.S Senator Christopher Murphy’s New Haven Innovation Council; working as a consultant in South Africa; and swimming with sharks.