Matt Essieh ’82 MBA’ 83 & Emmanuella Essieh ’82

Matt Essieh ’82 MBA’ 83 and Emmanuella Essieh ’82 share a history at Southern Oregon University that opened the doors for thriving business careers, philanthropy, and a lifelong romance.

The two met as international students, Matt from a small village in Ghana and Emmanuella from Lagos, Nigeria. “There’s no way we would have met in Africa,” said Matt.

Matt is founder and CEO of Beaverton-based EAI Information Systems, a computer software technology that helps banks, brokers, and insurance companies track and manage their investments. Emmanuella is cofounder and president of KMJ Asset Management in Portland, a residential property investment and management firm.

Both Matt and Emmanuella majored in business, but their paths to SOU were very different.

Matt said he had a curious and entrepreneurial spirit, and didn’t see many opportunities as a child in Ghana. As a teenager, he worked at a hotel, where he met three Peace Corps volunteers, one of whom was from Grants Pass. The young volunteer took an interest in Matt and asked her parents to help him with his educational goals. The young volunteer died a few years later, but her parents honored her wishes and brought Matt to Grants Pass. Matt enrolled at SOSC in winter 1979. “I am so grateful to that entire family. George and Jean Major gave a young boy from Ghana opportunities that changed my life,” he said.

Emmanuella came to SOU at the recommendation of a close cousin who was studying at the university. “Education was very important to my family,” said Emmanuella. “Two of my older sisters were educated in the UK, and another in the US. They inspired me to study overseas,” she said.

“I got such a well-rounded education at SOU,” she said. “My classes encouraged careful analysis and problem-solving to create opportunities. My business management classes taught me skills that continue to help me in my career today.”

The university exposed Matt to a diversity of people and cultures that he had not previously encountered. “I met students from all over the world; there were students from Mexico, South Korea, the US, Japan, Europe, Iran, and other African countries. It opened my mind and reminded me that we are all human beings with aspirations and families. That’s what stays with me,” he said.

For Emmanuella, education is the foundation of building a strong society. “If we don’t extend the opportunities for education to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to access it, then we are leaving people behind. Society will end up having to support people in need one way or another,” she said. “Why not support them by giving them an education and the chance to make a brighter future?”

In appreciation for the opportunities they each received, the couple created a non-profit foundation to support kids from Matt’s hometown, Sampa, in their education and to help Ghanaian and Nigerian students to get a university education in Africa and in the United States. “Our nonprofit work was started because of my husband’s passion to give back to others and pay forward his experiences,” said Emmanuella “He knows what it is like to have dreams and aspirations but to feel hopeless about not being able to realize them. We want to help students have an opportunity to get a solid education and a better future.”