A class, a reshuffle, a conversation

For Muyiwa Ojo, the journey began thousands of miles away in Nigeria, where hunger, poverty, and inequality were not statistics but realities with faces he knew. That experience became a career of frontline social-impact work and, eventually, his own nonprofit — the Food Scheme for African Development Initiative — and a vision called NourishBridge: connecting donors transparently to food assistance.

On the other side of the world, Jillian Robertson was building at the intersection of business, technology, design thinking, and innovation — from data engineering and business intelligence to consulting and executive strategy, for Fortune 100 companies, high-growth startups, and university-led initiatives. She did not arrive at the University of Chicago looking for a co-founder. She arrived looking for the next problem worth solving.

In the Spring of 2026, both enrolled in Innovation Leadership at Chicago Booth with Professor James Janega — and only an enrollment reshuffle put them on the same six-person team. When the group needed a final project, Muyiwa introduced NourishBridge. Jillian saw a real problem, thoughtfully addressed — and something much larger behind it.

Before that private conversation ended, Muyiwa asked a simple question: “Do you want us to build this together?” Jillian’s answer was immediate: “Yes.”

From that conversation, Afara was born — named after the Yoruba word for bridge. The rest of the story is still being written.