Allan Njomo
University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business
“Kenyan by birth and Texan at heart with a passion for healthcare.”
Fun fact about yourself: I regularly listen and dance to Bruno Mars’ entire discography in preparation for exams, papers, and other similar assessments.
Hometown: Arlington, Texas
High School: Mansfield Summit High School
Major: Business Analytics
Favorite Business Course: Machine Learning! This class showed me the possibilities of data and technology.
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:
- Student Government:
- Senator 2019-2020
- Hall President 2020-2021
- Student Body President 2021-Present
- Building Bridges (Mentorship Program):
- Mentor 2021-Present
- Academic Research:
- Japanese healthcare policy after the 3/11 disaster 2020-2021
- Reducing hospital administrative costs 2021-Present
- Awards / Honors:
- Frazier Thompson Scholarship Award
- Lou Holtz Leadership Scholarship Award
- Dean’s List
Where have you interned during your college career?
- PwC, Dallas: Start Intern (Summer 2020)
- University Relations, Notre Dame: Academic Advancement Intern (Summer 2020)
- PwC, Dallas: Health care Supply Chain Intern (Summer 2021)
Where will you be working after graduation? PwC, Healthcare Advisory Consultant
What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? Work backwards! It can be hard to figure out what major you’d like to pursue, but if you have an idea of what you’re passionate about, find what major best supplements it. For example, I knew I cared a lot about health care; I landed upon Business Analytics as a major since it allowed me to bring together my passion for health care and desire to better understand data analytics.
What has surprised you most about majoring in business? Initially, I was worried that majoring in business meant I was being taught what to think and not how to think. Instead, I’ve found it to be the opposite. Creativity is fostered in the classroom through collaborative projects and other activities. Beyond that, professors work closely with students to ensure they are adapting to a growingly complex business world.
Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? One of my personal achievements that I am most proud of is being elected Student Body President. In my role I’ve been able to work to increase student representation in university decision making. Beyond this, I have been a part of various student lead initiatives to make campus more equitable. Looking back at my term, I am proud of the progress we’ve made on issues of diversity and inclusion. Although more work remains to be done, to be given the opportunity to represent my peers has been one of the greatest honors.
Which classmate do you most admire? I most admire my friend Elaine Carter, an Accountancy major. I first met Elaine when we were in the same group for a class project. We only corresponded over the phone and it was not until after our class ended that we met. My first impression of Elaine was driven by her meticulous approach to our project. She would proofread the entire group’s submissions several times and often took on the largest segment of work. She was always kind and would labor to ensure we were on track towards success.
While all these things were impressive, the reason I admire Elaine so much is because of her passion for bringing socially responsible investing to Notre Dame and changing the conversation around mental health. In her time here, she co-founded Notre Dame Socially Responsible Investing (NDSRI) and took on leadership of Active Minds. With NDSRI, she has brought much-needed attention to how faculty and staff may invest in privatized prisons. With Active Minds, she has broadened conversations around mental health to eradicate stigma and increase the availability of resources. Beyond these achievements, Elaine is a friend who cares deeply for those around her and is driven to make the world a better place.
Who would you most want to thank for your success? I would like to thank my father the most for my success. As a child in Kenya, I doubted his insistence that I would one day go to a college in the United States. Through his hard work, determination, and sacrifice, not only did I go to school in America, I got to be a student at a place like Notre Dame. My father has an unshakable confidence in God’s plan that has sustained us through homelessness, joblessness, and hunger. I would not be where I am today without him.
What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?
- I hope to one day work within health policy to create more avenues for access to affordable health care.
- I hope to also work as a health executive at a hospital.
What are your hobbies? I enjoy reading when I have time on my hands, cheering on Chelsea FC on Saturday mornings, and running an informal blog driven by the music I listen to.
What made Allan such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2022?
“Allan Njomo’s accomplishments speak for themselves – student body president, mentor for underrepresented students, competitive and prestigious internships, and scholarship awards – but they shine even brighter because he has achieved each of these with a commitment to lifting up all members of our community since he arrived on campus four years ago. I met Allan through our Notre Dame Building Bridges program, an elective program which facilitates mentoring relationships for underrepresented students with faculty in their areas of interest. From our first meeting, I knew Allan was the kind of student who would leave his mark on our university. His leadership through student government has been transformative on our campus, focusing on creating more representative, equitable and inclusive experiences for all students, and leading our student community with compassion and commitment as the world around us reckoned with racial injustice and the tumult of the pandemic. He was a leader in the successful effort to have the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday honored with the first full, campus-wide observance. He led the effort to increase student representation in university decision making, and fostered formal discussion opportunities between administrators, faculty, and students.
All the while, he maintains his academic excellence. As one of his professors, I saw his thoughtful contributions and commitment to the classroom. In a research project examining environmental justice, community and economic recovery and resilience after climate-related disasters, Allan was among the first students accepted by our team of faculty into the faculty-student research immersion. When our field work in Fukushima, Japan, was cancelled due to pandemic restrictions, several of the student team members understandably took their interests elsewhere – undergraduate research is much more attractive when it involves a trip to an exciting country on the other side of the world – but Allan continued to contribute, pursuing opportunities to engage his intellectual curiosity and to contribute to understanding how communities can flourish.
In addition to his regular coursework, Allan pursued these investigations, ultimately presenting his work on inequities in healthcare delivery in international communities at two professional ethics conferences. As a first-year student, Allan shared with me the poignant experiences in his own life that led him to his interest in a career at the intersection of healthcare and business. Four years later, our university is better for his leadership, and he is poised to contribute in his post-graduation life in so many ways. We at Notre Dame look forward to watching him make his mark in the world just as he has done as an invaluable member of our student body.”
Jessica McManus Warnell
Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Management & Organization
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