Courtesy Photo
By David McLain
Reporter
Eight international graduate and undergraduate students are waiting on approval to form an organization that will help equip international and domestic Baylor students to interact in unfamiliar cultures as they study and work abroad.
Olasunkanmi Agbomeji, a business school student from Lagos, Nigeria, has joined with seven other international students to form Global Business Connect.
“Through this organization we all want to help students, both graduate and undergraduate, with a business focus and equip then give them resources that will give them an advantage in a global market,” Agbomeji said.
The group has been meeting together unofficially for nearly six weeks, and they are currently awaiting a decision on their request to be a certified student organization from the Student Activities office. Agbomeji said he expects to hear from Student Activities soon. If Global Business Connect is granted its request, there will be a two-week training period for the organization following their certification.
The members of Global Business Connect are primarily business students, since the idea for the organization came from the co-founders’ experiences as business students studying abroad. The eight interested members met with Jim Anderson for advice on specific developments of the organization. Anderson is a part-time marketing lecturer and manager of Baylor Business Global Connection, a program of the McBride Center for International Business that procures business partnerships so that Baylor can increase opportunities in research, student internships and academic resources for continuing education programs.
“Global development is easiest done in the business school,” Anderson said.
Anderson said global development is not limited to the business school, but the business school is a good place to start. Agbomeji said Global Business Connect eventually wants to expand into other disciplines.
Anderson also helped the founders of Global Business Connect realize the need to differ their organization from similar existing ones.
“Even from the name, we are something very different,” Agbomeji said. “We didn’t give it a cliché name, because it isn’t a cliché organization.
In a developed constitution for the pending organization, Global Business Connect states three goals intended to impact the Baylor student body.
The proposed organization seeks to facilitate a deeper understanding of global business dynamics and to enhance the global focus of Baylor students, will strengthen cross-cultural skills by providing mentoring and training tailored to international students’ career development needs and will increase international internships, career opportunities, and business connects for Baylor students.
Global Business Connect currently has four social entrepreneurship internship opportunities that will be made available pending recognition by Student Activities. Two of those internships are located in Africa, one in Europe and one in Asia.
“We want to expand into other disciplines like finance, accounting, consulting and IT,” Agbomeji said.
Agbomeji said that Global Business Connect’s strengths lie in the diversity of its members. Members call many places home including Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East.
“We all come from different regions of the world to connect our resources to empower students to enter the international market,” Agbomeji said. “It connects grad students and undergraduates in a different way, just as a single platform to share experiences. It exists to put one and two together to get a very strong three.”
Agbomeji said Global Business Connect is not only for international students.
“What ever business you start, you’re going to want to go globally,” Agbomeji said. “We will inform international students looking at the international market, but its also for domestic students looking to expand globally as a career path. I think everyone can benefit from it.”
