Education received at La Salle helped achieve dreams

La Salle helped Oshunbumi Fernandez-West, MBA ‘02, elevate her mother’s legacy, and build her own.

Oshunbumi Fernandez-West, MBA ’02.

In 2000, Oshunbumi Fernandez-West, MBA ‘02, was working full-time as her mother’s caregiver. She was also running the family business, ODUNDE.  

ODUNDE, is a yearly Philadelphia event started in 1975 by her mother, Lois Fernandez, and has grown to be the largest African American street festival in North America. The concept originated from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, West Africa, and celebrates the coming of another year for African Americans and Africanized people around the world. Fernandez-West took it over from her mother when she was just 22 years old.   

She wanted to get an MBA to help take ODUNDE to the next level, but she needed an environment where she could continue to care for her mother but also study and learn. That’s where La Salle came in.  

“La Salle allowed me to get a wonderful education but also be able to take care of my mom at the same time,” she said.  “It was a wonderful experience for me.”   

The combination of knowledgeable professors, an understanding of her situation, and a supportive community meant that Fernandez-West, now ODUNDE’s CEO, was able to do everything she needed to propel her career forward.   

“I live by a saying: a dream without a plan is just a wish. So, you must have a plan in place while you’re working hard,” she said. “La Salle helped me to develop that plan.”  

She graduated with her MBA knowing that with hard work, anything was possible.   

ODUNDE was the legacy left for Fernandez-West by her mother, who passed away in 2017, and the reason for the hard work she put into her studies. ODUNDE celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2025.   

“My mother not only left me a legacy, but she also taught me how to maintain and grow it,” Fernandez-West said.  “I used my MBA to take my mother’s legacy to the next level.”   

When she took over ODUNDE, the festival covered five blocks and had less than 100 vendors.   

Fernandez-West used the education she received from La Salle to help grow the festival to what it is today, an event that spans 15 blocks, has two live entertainment stages and has over 150 vendors selling all types of African and African inspired food and art.   

She has also built her own legacy with ODUNDE365, a program that provides African American cultural programming year-round in schools, community centers and public venues, including summer cooking classes, dance programs and fashion design programs.   

As well as ODUNDE, Fernandez-West has BUMI Productions, an event planning company which she put on pause while caring for her mother, but that is now back and thriving.   

Her time at La Salle helped her never give up on achieving her goals.   

“I just love what I do,” Fernandez-West said. “I just want people to know, don’t let anything stop you. That’s what I learned from La Salle.” 

– Naomi Thomas 

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