Oby Nwabuzor is the founder of Envision Growth a public health- driven real estate development firm that works to build healthy people and communities through intentional investment in the built environment. (Photo provided by Oby Nwabuzor)
By PrincessSafiya Byers
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Oby Nwabuzor is passionate about improving her community.
“Milwaukee is home,” she said. “My ‘why’ is the notion that we truly can be a better community.”
In high school, she participated in Amnesty International’s student group at Rufus King High School. In college, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she canvassed for elections, helping people register and get out to vote.
If you’d asked her then, Rufus King High School’s best-dressed student would have told you she was going to play for the WNBA.
But an injury forced her to rethink what she was passionate about, and for her it was community.
From there, her dedication to community and advocacy soared.
“Community has always been at the nexus of everything I’ve been a part of,” she said. “I really wanted a job that’s in the community. I want to be somebody that’s external facing.”
Nwabuzor, who holds a doctorate of public health degree in applied public health practice and leadership, works at the intersection of public health, real estate development and systems innovation.
Nwabuzor is the founder of Envision Growth, a public health-driven real estate development firm that works to build healthy people and communities through intentional investment in the built environment. The built environment refers to all space that is created to support human life, including living spaces, school, roads and parks.
Envision Growth projects include working with the county to restore homes that are sold as affordable housing and constructing homes in partnership with the Community Development Alliance and Habitat for Humanity on its Early Childhood Education Housing initiative.
She also serves as the director of Social Drivers of Health Strategy for Advocate Health.
“Dr. Oby Nwabuzor is a visionary force who bridges public health and real estate to build communities where people don’t just live, they thrive,” said her mentor, Ossie Kendrix.
Public health and real estate
The first time Nwabuzor truly realized the disparities facing marginalized people in Milwaukee, she was grown, graduated and working for the American Heart Association.
As someone born and raised in Milwaukee, she said it was like seeing the city through a new lens.
“It was probably always right in my face,” Nwabuzor said. “But as we grow, we start looking at things a little bit differently and the picture gets painted.”
For some, the glaring disparities would be a reason to leave the city. But for Nwabuzor, it informs her work on a daily basis.
“My initial impression was that Oby was a person with big ideas that brought together two sectors not often aligned – public health and real estate development,” said Kirsten Beyer, who was her dissertation chair. “I still think she has big ideas, but I have also seen her evolve her skill sets and elevate her communication as she completed her” doctorate.
Some see real estate development solely as a way to make money. Nwabuzor’s work at Envision Growth looks at building healthier communities and people through real estate development in the built environment.
“What I love about Oby is that she doesn’t chase titles or recognition; she builds systems that last,” Kendrix said. “Her work sits at the intersection of public health, real estate and equity, and she moves through those spaces with a kind of quiet power that commands respect without demanding it.”
Building her skill set Nwabuzor spends her free time reading about topics like housing and actively learning to do this work better.
Her work spans early-stage consulting on commercial projects, single-family revitalization and workforce housing.
Her public health leadership has helped secure over $1.7 million in funding to expand SNAP access, support healthy food retail and enhance walkability across Wisconsin. In 2022, she was appointed by Gov. Tony Evers to the Wisconsin Public Health Council, where she has contributed to statewide health and policy strategies.
“Milwaukee is so communal,” she said. “It’s rare to be in a city where you have access to so many leaders and people who are change-makers and have authority over the things that can happen in the space people have access to.”
Legacy of community
Nwabuzor, a first-generation Nigerian American, said there is royal lineage on both sides of her family. But she credits her maternal grandfather, Chief David Ojo Abiodun Oguntoye, for the family’s dedication to community.
Her grandfather was a chief in Nigeria. He was also the 48th Indigenous attorney to come out of Nigeria and was an advocate against colonialism. He rose through the ranks and established a law firm with his wife known as Oguntoye & Oguntoye in 1949, which remains operational today.
“He was really being a steward of the land and advocating for things of that time,” she said. “Myself and my siblings, we are advocates of the things of the times. I give honors to our grandfather for paving the way.”
Nwabuzor’s mother is a nurse who was a linguistics teacher in Nigeria. Her father ran a nonmedical transportation business and worked in agriculture research and government.
A vessel
Nwabuzor, well known for her work ethic and “massive collection of sneakers,” is also known for her faith.
She said she is highly spiritual and intentional about ensuring that her work and her faith are never separate.
“I like to play my part,” Nwabuzor said. “And that’s to be a vessel, and whether that’s biblically, or you’re applying it in the real world, in real time, without the vessel, blood can’t return to the heart.
So my part is through real estate development in the built environment.”
She said faith guides both her personal and professional decisions. Faith led her to further her studies during the COVID pandemic.
“God tapped me on the shoulder, and it was like, ‘you’re going back to school,’ ” she said.
She earned her doctorate of public health degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in May, which, she said, will help her continue to integrate her work in real estate development and public health.
Beyer said Nwabuzor is a change-maker, a strong voice and a natural leader.
“It is not one accomplishment that I am proud of. … It is more her consistency of interest in making an impact, her ongoing commitment to move toward a better version of the world,” Beyer said