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ADA, Okla. - East Central University recently hosted the Annual Homecoming Gala, where several awards and scholarships were presented, including the first ever recipients of the Rising ECU Tiger Distinguished Alumni Award. Two distinguished alumni from ECU were presented this award, Dakota Cole and Srijita Ghosh.

Ghosh graduated from ECU with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with certificates in Entrepreneurship, Finance and Human Resources.

“I’m incredibly honored and I’m incredibly humbled to be here today, because it’s a very humbling reminder for me for how far along I’ve come in my American journey and my American dream,” said Ghosh upon receiving the award. “I was born and raised in India in a beautiful city called Kolkata. But Ada has become my second hometown.”

Ghosh continued, “It is truly because of this community and because of this campus that I am able to be here today and make a little difference in the community and the field that I work in.”

During her time as a student with ECU, Ghosh excelled with a variety of awards and honors, including Outstanding Sophomore 2016 for the Harland Stonecipher School of Business, ECU Annual Tiger Tank Competition 1st runner up in 2016 and the Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup winner for 2017 and George Nigh Award winner for 2018.

“I have so many memories and accomplishments on this campus, like when I got to represent ECU at the Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup when I was a student entrepreneur, a competition hosted by i2E, where I now work. It’s such a full circle moment, that is incredibly special to me,” Ghosh continued to reminisce. “I have memories from when I got to represent ECU on the women’s tennis team and we won the championship in 2016. That was truly incredible.”

“But one memory that I remember vividly and hold closest to my heart and is something that keeps me grounded and inspired is actually my first day on campus. It was a really cold winter, even for Oklahoma standards, and your girl had never seen snow before. My flight had been delayed and I came to Ada exhausted and freezing and I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but the next morning I went to the University Center and I met Robert. He gave me the warmest welcome and took me in the ECU shuttle to Walmart to get my necessities…What I didn’t know at that time was that that was one of the first of many warm welcomes that I was going to get from this campus and this community.”

“I came to ECU with a simple dream of playing tennis but ECU opened doors for me that I did not know even existed. And that is something of value that I try to bring to my work now,” Ghosh continued. “I’m a Venture Advisor at i2E, where I help Oklahoma entrepreneurs build, launch and grow their companies here in Oklahoma so we can create stronger economies and create quality jobs to make our communities more innovative and diverse.”

Ghosh’s position as a Venture Advisor at i2E allows her to play a pivotal role in the shaping of Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial landscape. She provides comprehensive advisory services to entrepreneurs, researchers, and early-stage startups across the state.

As an entrepreneurship-led economic development expert and active ecosystem builder, Ghosh fosters essential community partnerships. She serves on the Executive Board of the Oklahoma Venture Forum, Advisory Board of The Verge OKC, member of VEST and LeadHER Board and is involved in several other prominent organizations.

Ghosh passionately advocates for authenticity in the workplace, championing inclusion and empowering individuals to celebrate their cultural identities, starting with their names. Her work focuses on strengthening the Midwest innovation economy, particularly supporting rural and minority entrepreneurs.

Her work in rural economic development has proven to be immeasurably impactful for small town innovation.

From her success at ECU to her position as an Entrepreneurship Specialist for the Ada Jobs Foundation to her position now, among many other significant accomplishments, Ghosh is clear where her gratitude lies, “I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the most special people in my life and that is my family. My parents and my sister…my parents made an incredibly difficult decision to say that they wanted me and my sister to have access to the opportunities that they did not have and said, ‘we want you to dream big and reach that full potential even if that leads you halfway across the world.’”

Cutline: ECU President Wendell Godwin presented the Rising ECU Tiger Distinguished Alumni award to alumna Srijita Ghosh at the 2024 Homecoming Gala.

-ECU-

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