Anslem Oshionebo Honoured with the 2020 Immigrant Professional Excellence Award
Anslem Oshionebo received the Immigrant Professional Excellence Award at the 2020 Immigrant Journey Awards in Dallas, which honour outstanding immigrant entrepreneurs, professionals, community leaders and advocates.
Anslem Oshionebo, CEO and President of Tenaza Asset Recovery & Intelligence and Managing Director and CEO of Haricot Energies, received the Immigrant Professional Excellence Award at the 2020 Immigrant Journey Awards in Dallas, Texas. The awards celebrate outstanding immigrant entrepreneurs, professionals, community leaders and advocates in North Texas.
Because the ceremony took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was held virtually and received less attention than it would have in an ordinary year. This article records the recognition and what it represents.
About the Immigrant Journey Awards
The Immigrant Journey Awards are presented by Badmus & Associates, an immigration law firm based in Dallas. The 2020 ceremony was held online on Thursday, September 17, 2020, and streamed on Facebook Live and Zoom as part of Dallas Welcoming Week, under the theme "Creating Home Together". Supporting organisations included the Americas Chamber for Business, Communities Foundation of Texas, Jupiter Gardens, and the City of Dallas Office of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs.
Honours were presented in four categories:
- Immigrant Professional Excellence Award: Anslem Oshionebo and Dr. Fesaha Gebrehiwot
- Immigrant Entrepreneur Award: Veronica Sauto and Nehme William Elbitar
- Immigrant Spirit Award: Mohammed Farshori and Sudip Adhikari
- Immigrant Advocate Award: Adan Gonzalez and Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk
The programme also awards American Dream Scholarships to high school seniors who are immigrants or the children of immigrants.
Recognising professional excellence
The Professional Excellence Award recognises immigrants whose careers demonstrate outstanding achievement and whose example opens doors for others. Anslem's path began in Nigeria, where he earned a degree in mining engineering and worked as a field engineer in oil and gas and construction management. He moved into finance with PwC in Nigeria and then the United States, including a rotation in the firm's National and Technical Accounting Research Office, and qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), a US Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner.
He went on to co-found a software technology company that grew more than 500 percent year on year and expanded into over 32 countries, and to found a consulting and software development firm focused on technology, compliance monitoring and operational efficiency. Today he leads Tenaza Asset Recovery & Intelligence, operating across more than 40 countries, and Haricot Energies, an upstream oil and gas company in Nigeria.
Giving back to the immigrant community
Alongside his professional work, Anslem has written openly about the immigrant experience through his series Challenges of an Immigrant, which offers practical encouragement on language, culture, workplace visibility, discrimination and resilience. In Dallas he volunteers as a teacher for young children at his church and coaches youth soccer, and in Nigeria he supports education and community health projects, including the 2026 refurbishment of Jattu Primary Health Centre.
Watch the ceremony
The recording of the 2020 Immigrant Journey Awards is available on YouTube. Anslem's recognition begins at about 32 minutes.
New episodes of Challenges of an Immigrant
Building on the recognition, Anslem is publishing new monthly episodes of Challenges of an Immigrant, with lessons on character, belonging, courage and leadership for immigrants and the colleagues and leaders who work alongside them.