The ripple effect: MBA student turns scholarship support into entrepreneurial empowerment

Thursday, October 22, 2026

Media Contact: Stephen Howard | Director of Marketing & Communications | 405-744-4363 | stephen.howard@okstate.edu

Kevin Kuteesa often reflects on the ripple effect.

Drop a pebble into a pond and see how far the waves spread.

The analogy has illustrated many scientific phenomena, historical movements and societal trends.

For Kuteesa, it’s her life story — a theme that resonated from Mukono, Uganda, to Oklahoma State University.

“I know firsthand what can happen when someone believes in you,” Kuteesa said. “I watched it happen with my mother. I experienced it here at OSU, and now, I want to create that same ripple effect for others.”

Kuteesa, a Spears School of Business MBA student with an OSU graduate degree in global studies, earned many accolades over the past year.

She won the Edward Jones Top Scholar award out of 150-plus applicants, received the Richard L. Tourtellotte Family Scholarship at the Riata Business Plan Competition and accepted the universitywide Student Philanthropist of the Year Award at the annual Women for OSU Symposium.

“She’s a go-getter, so if she’s dedicated to something, you’re getting 110%,” said Chad Mills, director of the Riata Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Kuteesa is the CEO and co-founder of Prograte Finance, which doubles as an app-based portfolio management system for microfinance institutions and a financial literacy resource increasing women’s access to Uganda’s formal economy.

Kuteesa’s business model grew out of Prograte Capital Ventures, the microlending network she launched before coming to OSU. With the Riata Center’s guidance, she reshaped her social entrepreneurship venture into a digital platform providing large-scale economic solutions.

Although Kuteesa finds inspiration in many philanthropists and businesspeople, the ripple effect started with the determined entrepreneur who raised her.

Learning by example

Geographic wonders meet in Uganda.

The landlocked East African country is home to towering mountains, scenic national parks and part of Lake Victoria, which covers around 26,000 square miles — more than a third of Oklahoma’s size — as Earth’s second-largest freshwater lake.

Not far from the famous lake, Mrs. Harriet Buteyi raised her children in Mukono. Kuteesa saw Buteyi, her mother, wake before sunrise to start working each day, keeping the family together after a tragedy.

“I was born shortly after losing my father,” Kuteesa said. “My mother suddenly carried responsibilities no one should have to carry alone.”

In the 1990s, Buteyi received a dairy cow from a nonprofit organization. She sold the cow’s milk, generating income that covered school fees for Kuteesa and her siblings.

A community of agricultural entrepreneurs formed as women sustainably managed small farms with resources from the nonprofit — and from one another. Calves were sent to neighboring families, multiplying the impact.

Formerly known as Send a Cow, the organization is today called Ripple Effect.

“What impacted me the most was not the financial support,” Kuteesa said. “It was seeing my mother regain dignity. She was no longer simply surviving. She was producing, providing and participating in her local economy.”

The positive impact reached Kuteesa, who went on to graduate from the business school at Makerere University, Uganda’s oldest and top-ranked university.

After several years of working in Uganda’s fintech industry, she founded Prograte Capital Ventures with support from investors who sent microloans to women running small shops as vendors and artisans.

These women grew their businesses, turned profits and made repayments on flexible plans. Portions of the repayments covered loans for new entrepreneurs, so one small loan could kick-start a wave of economic growth.

“I remember one woman who sold vegetables from a small roadside stand,” Kuteesa said. “After receiving a small loan through Prograte, she expanded her inventory and later hired two additional women.”

The Riata Center provides resources for OSU students of all majors to put original business plans into action with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs.

Kuteesa eagerly jumped into the Riata Startup Experience, the center’s business incubator program. She started competing in events like the Business Plan Competition, developed her elevator pitch and won awards.

“It was such an amazing reaction,” Mills said. “She knew exactly what she wanted, and she pursued every opportunity after that.”

Thanks to the Riata Center, Kuteesa consulted with now-retired entrepreneurship professor Dr. Craig Watters, Spears Business MBA alumna Stacey Brandhorst, and entrepreneurs-in-residence Kristen Hadley and Cara Evans.

Listening to feedback from each mentor, Kuteesa expanded Prograte Finance into a big-picture solution to an economic challenge.

Men are employed at higher rates than women in Uganda’s wage, salaried and management positions, but agricultural jobs account for a larger percentage of women’s employment. As of 2025, more than 70% of employed Ugandan women worked in agriculture, according to a Women, Business and the Law report.

“For many women working as farmers, market vendors and artisans, access to formal financial services remains out of reach,” Kuteesa said. “Although they run successful businesses and contribute significantly to their communities, many lack the financial records required by traditional banks.”

Prograte Finance is helping bridge that gap by giving microfinance institutions a digital platform to manage lending while helping entrepreneurs build a documented financial history. Through its web and mobile application, lenders can onboard clients, process loans and track repayments electronically, replacing paper-based systems with secure digital records.

While financial institutions subscribe to the platform, the small-business entrepreneurs use it at no cost, allowing them to establish a verifiable financial profile as they repay their loans. Over time, these records can help unlock greater access to credit and other financial opportunities.

Kuteesa’s team of 11 employees also offers financial literacy training to entrepreneurs, supporting a philosophy shaped by Kuteesa’s mother.

“I learned that lasting change is not about temporary charity, but about creating access and opportunities that allow people to thrive and transform their lives,” Kuteesa said.

Full-circle moments 

After crossing OSU’s graduation stage in May 2025, Kuteesa had motivation to continue her education.

“Staying at OSU for my MBA felt like the natural next step because it allowed me to connect my global perspective with strategy, entrepreneurship and leadership,” Kuteesa said.

The Spears Business MBA program offers flexibility with on-campus, hybrid and online pathways. All three regularly appear in U.S. News & World Report’s best graduate programs rankings, and the online program is No. 10 nationally.

Kuteesa chose the on-campus pathway, staying active with the Riata Center until her expected graduation in 2027.

She also made connections in Tulsa this summer, completing an internship with OSU’s Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education LaunchPad Center.

From agriculture to aerospace, Kuteesa remembers the “why” behind her entrepreneurial mindset. Regular phone calls with her mom keep her inspired.

In April, the mother and daughter celebrated amazing news.

As a Women for OSU Student Philanthropist of the Year, Kuteesa stood on a stage in Gallagher-Iba Arena and shared her passion with hundreds of alumni and donors at the spring symposium. The audience included Amy Mitchell, the 2026 Women for OSU Philanthropist of the Year.

Mitchell and her husband, Malone, provided a $57.2 million gift to Spears Business and OSU Athletics in 2008.

Their generosity led to the founding of the Riata Center, named for their company, Riata Energy.

Kuteesa said it was incredibly meaningful to win her award at the same ceremony where Mitchell was honored.

“The donors’ support, whether they think it’s small or big, is really tremendous,” Kuteesa said. “It was a very opportune moment to say thank you for believing in me, but also let them know the support they are giving us creates this ripple effect. I would love to pay that forward in very meaningful ways, at OSU and beyond, in the world.”

For Kuteesa, that’s not just an aspirational statement.

It’s her promise to carry the waves as far as they will go.