Efosa Ojomo

My research focuses on understanding how market-creating innovations can spur economic prosperity for many. Innovation has long been seen as a catalyst for growth, but categorizing innovation activity in an economy gives us the ability to predict how a particular type of innovation will impact growth. My work is focused on this categorization and figuring out ways for entrepreneurs to ignite market-creating innovations in their contexts.

I first met Clay when I took his “Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise” course at Harvard Business School (HBS). The course changed my life. In the course, Clay introduces students to theories that we can use as lenses to help demystify complex managerial problems. The discussion and insights in the course were so illuminating that I jumped at the opportunity to work with Clay after I graduated.

After graduation, I decided to work with Clay at the Forum for Growth and Innovation at HBS. A year later, I moved over to the Christensen Institute to continue our work. At the Institute, I get to work with incredibly brilliant and humble people who are working hard to use theories to illuminate complexities in our world in an attempt to make the world a more prosperous place.

The people at the Institute really care about people. And so I get to work with people who I know care about my well-being. The Institute also gives me the creative freedom to develop and advance ideas in innovative ways and to partner with globally-recognized organizations to advance our work. And lastly, the Institute gives me the opportunity to do what Clay did for me: change the way people think and see the world and, in effect, give them hope. There’s no place I’d rather be.

Experience

• Director, Global Prosperity Research, the Christensen Institute
• Research Fellow, Forum for Growth and Innovation at Harvard Business School
• Adjunct Faculty, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
• Vanderbilt University, BS in Engineering
• Harvard Business School, MBA