Meet Dr. Oby Nwabuzor

Dr. Oby Nwabuzor is a first-generation Nigerian American leader working at the intersection of public health, real estate development, and systems innovation.

She is the founder of Envision Growth, a public health–driven real estate development firm dedicated to building healthy people and communities through intentional investment in the built environment. As an emerging developer, she has led more than $4 million in real estate development, including an affordable housing initiative for early childhood educators. She also helped establish the Milwaukee’s Harambee Homeownership Initiative tax-increment district (TID), expanding access to homeownership in a historically disinvested neighborhood.

Dr. Nwabuzor leads as a Director at Advocate Health, where she advances enterprise-wide strategies that strengthen community health and impact. Over the past decade, she has also held leadership positions with Landmark Credit Union, the American Heart Association, and United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, experiences that shaped her cross-sector approach to community investment, economic mobility, and well-being. Through her dual expertise in the built environment and public health, she led policy efforts that secured over $1.7 million in community investment to expand SNAP access, support healthy food retail, and enhance walkability.

Appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to the Public Health Council and serving on the boards of Malaika Early Learning Center and the Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation (NIDC), she continues to advance work grounded in health, housing, and human dignity.

Her work has been recognized by the Milwaukee Business Journal (40 Under 40, Executives to Watch), Wisconsin Law Journal (Diversity in Business Award), and UNCF (Milwaukee Mastermind), and she has also been honored by the Medical College of Wisconsin as an Underrepresented Scholar. Dr. Nwabuzor earned her undergraduate degree in Communication from UWM, an MBA in Business Strategy from Cardinal Stritch University, and a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Applied Public Health Practice and Leadership from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

More than a title or a role, she sees herself simply as a vessel. As a descendant of royal lineages across Yoruba and Ika communities, Dr. Nwabuzor is grounded in a legacy of land stewardship and generational leadership. In Yoruba tradition, the title Omooba (“child of the king”) reflects a call to lead with vision, protect dignity, and build for the collective good—a lineage that continues to shape her worldview, voice, and work across sectors.