Not often does an undergraduate dissertation lead directly to community-level social change. While many students are content when they press the ‘submit’ button, Jordan Unokesan (Land Economy 2021) was from the start set on his work making an impact beyond the page.
“I did my dissertation on the black oil market in Nigeria,” says Jordan. “I got around 40 interviews, and people told me about how the market affects their lives, and their history with oil. I remember them thanking me for telling their story.
“One of my conclusions was that environmental degradation through not just the black oil market but the regulated oil market as well has significant impacts on social wellbeing. That got a local government area to change the way they protect their citizens, which was massively gratifying and fulfilling.”
For his exceptional work, not just in his dissertation but across the final year of his degree, in which he topped Tripos, Jordan is a 2025 recipient of the Catherine Yates Memorial Prize. The prize is awarded by Ӱҵ College to a student who has taken the fullest advantage of the academic opportunities available to undergraduates. He was also awarded the Department of Land Economy’s Noel Dean Prize for best overall performance in Part II, and the University of Cambridge’s Winifred Georgina Holgate-Pollard Memorial Prize for exceptional achievement.
Jordan’s work ethic is driven by a deep-rooted mission to effect positive and impactful social change in the world. This has been his goal since his childhood, growing up in Croydon, London. An offer to read Land Economy at Caius was a key step on his journey.
“Growing up, I didn’t necessarily have a pathway, but I was chasing feelings,” says Jordan.
“My mum is a nurse and my dad is a government contractor. I grew up in an environment where my parents were both driven by the principle of giving back or adding something to society. That’s captivating when you’re young, because you see what gives the most value to the people who matter the most to you, and you want to emulate that.
“I fell into Land Economy, and it was a match made in heaven: law, economics and policy. Thomas Piketty in Capital and Ideology says something to the effect of law and economics being a means to an ideological end. If you want to influence and change society, you have to be decent at law and economics.”
“Decent” would be an understatement for Jordan, who secured the highest ever attainment in the Law and Economics paper of his course.
It was not only what Jordan studied but also where which strengthened his resolve to work towards the greater good.
“Caius changed my life,” he says. “It elucidated things about me and my character and certainly my intelligence that I didn’t know or that I couldn’t have found anywhere else.
“Caius is tight-knit, and I think that deep concentration of excellence is what makes it different. I can’t express how important it is to live next door to people who, when you see them, will push you. You’re around excellence all the time.
“You have conversations about real-world things and they become very deep. These conversations happen everywhere, whether it’s in the laundry room or at a Formal or in the café. It’s always a conversation that invigorates.
“I think that made me want to be better and pushed me towards my ideals. Beforehand, I had the conviction but it was not as strong or as defined as it is now.”
Jordan’s conviction has driven him to take every opportunity available to contribute towards a better world.
During his undergraduate years, he completed internships in consulting with the McKinsey & Company Future Black Leaders Programme and Kearney, and in finance with Barings Bank, as well as a mini pupillage at Doughty Street Chambers, where he worked on the defence team for a double homicide case.
He also held two Directorship roles at Bridges for Enterprise, a pro bono consulting service where he advised a Pakistani firm seeking sustainable ways of upcycling waste, a financial literacy platform in Nigeria, and a grassroots organisation building cooking stoves for rural Kenyans.
More recently, Jordan has turned towards establishing his own initiatives. In September 2024, he founded Empowered Voices, a charity which brings high-achieving individuals from underserved communities back to those communities, in order to provide mentorship and guide other members to reach their potential. Jordan is currently working to establish a trust layer for fraud detection in supply chains.
Although he admits that landing in a stable career has its attractions, Jordan has chosen to sacrifice security in favour of pursuing what fills his heart. He is unsure where his future will take him but knows that continuing to chase his feelings and standing by his values will keep him content and fulfilled.
Being guided by the North Star is a favourite analogy of his.
“If you’re on a ship and using the stars for navigation, the North Star is your guiding principle: it tells you that you’re on the right track,” he says. “You could encounter high waves and almost sink, or discover a beautiful lost island, but you know that fundamentally the North Star will lead you where you want to go.
“No matter what I was going through, I have always kept coming back to the fact that I was on track to get where I wanted to be, because I’m following those stars.”
