Award winning civil engineer, Ayo Sokale has turned her passion into an impressive career, and platform to instigate change. From navigating a male dominated profession, to bringing representation and diversity to politics, Ayo’s career has seen her make a long-lasting impact across multiple industries. As a high-profile expert on sustainability and the environment, Ayo is now sought after for presenting and speaking engagements. Able to discuss her extensive and influential professional experience, alongside her personal challenges with race and gender bias, Ayo is a truly exceptional speaker. Ayo has been nominated for The Telegraph’s Top 50 Women in Engineering Under 35, and with good reason, having such an impressive list of credentials to her name at a young age.
With a master’s in civil and Coastal Engineering, Institute of Civil Engineering training and CITB Site Management Safety Training, Ayo has become an authority on sustainable and safe engineering design. During her training Ayo was selected as one of Professor Lord Robert Mair’s Future Leaders and was an ICE Eco Warrior, further proving she is a standout in her field. Currently, Ayo is a project manager and BIM lead at the Environment Agency.
Equally passionate about actioning progressive change, Ayo is involved in politics as the elected Councillor for Caversham Labour Party. In this role she contributes to discussions surrounding planning applications, social care and education, all areas in which she feels compelled to support. Ayo has been involved with charity work since university, and alongside commitments to industrial placements and learning mandarin, she competed as a beauty queen, allowing her to raise funds for selected charities. Combining her expert insights with her platform as one to watch in the industry, Ayo is a popular choice for presenting and speaking opportunities. Focusing on STEM and her experiences as a Black woman in a typically non diverse field, Ayo has featured on Great Inventions, BBC short series and numerous speaking events.
One of the most charismatic, knowledgeable and engaging speakers on the circuit, Ayo is able to discuss all manner of important topics, from racial diversity to women in STEM.
How to hire Ayo Sokale
Contact the Champions Speakers agency to provisionally enquire about Ayo Sokale for your event today. Simply call a booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Ayo's official speaking topics can include the following:
- Civil Engineering
- Flood & Coastal Risk Management
- The Environment
- Environmental Injustice
- Water
- Project Management
- BIM – Building Information Modelling
- Digital Twins
- Digital Transformation
- Sustainability
- UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals
- Construction Health & Safety
- Infrastructure
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Women in STEM
- Women in Engineering
- Technology
- London’s Underground Sewers
- Mental Health
- Neurodiversity
- Motivation
FEEDBACK FROM VIRTUAL EVENTS & WEBINARS:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ayo attended many virtual events, booked as the exciting guest speaker. Read the feedback she has received below.
"You were TREMENDOUS! We have had so many people saying how inspired they were by you and what you said. Also how much they appreciated you sharing your personal experience and wisdom. The feedback has been overwhelming and all positive. We had 350 people on the call at different points, which is a great turnout for Arup. Thank you very, very much for taking the time to participate in the panel discussion. I am thrilled to have met you virtually. You made a hugely important and valuable contribution to making the event a success. We really appreciate it. Thanks on behalf of everyone at Arup who attended" - Andrea, Director Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Arup
"They were amazing. It was a really uplifting and motivational session and we were so happy they were able to join us. Please pass on our thanks to them both- hopefully they enjoyed it as much as we all did. Thank you for all your help in organising" - Alex, Arup
"Please can you pass on my thanks to Ayo. She led a fantastic session and had 100 people super engaged the entire time. Excellent content, excellent presentation and facilitation too" - Oju, People Operations Manager, Beacon
"Ayo's presentation was definitely another success. Our audience totally loved her. Very inspiring and memorable. Thank you so much for such notable speakers" - Tolu, Facilities Manager Lead, NHS
"Please forward my thank you to Ayo, on behalf of the Catalent Swindon and CWN team. She did an incredible job this morning (even in the face of Zoom sound difficulties) and we’ve all left the call with her positive energy ready to #choosetochallenge!" - Halene, Technical Proposal Lead, Catalent Pharma Solutions
"Ayo did an incredible job this morning and we've all left the call with her positive energy ready to #choosethechallenge!" - Catalent & the City Women Network
"It was great – really engaging and I’m sure I can speak for our colleagues when I say we learnt a lot! Thanks for your help in arranging the talk today." - Emily, Welsh Water
FEEDBACK FROM IN-PERSON EVENTS:
Ayo is regularly booked to engage audiences at in-person events, read her latest feedback below.
"I want to express my thanks for your support in arranging Ayo to speak for us yesterday. The event was hugely successful and Ayo was truly inspirational! Could you please convey our thanks and appreciation to Ayo for a very engaging talk- feedback has been very positive" - Ruthline, Director of Scientific Services, Chameleon
“The most inspirational Civil Engineer I’ve met and I’m sure the pupils felt the same!” - Piggotts School
"Thank you so much for coming to our certificate presentation evening. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you and your words to our departing students hit exactly the right note in terms of inspiration and motivation." - Langtree School
"Thank you so much for coming in to speak to my year group. I have had so much positive feedback from students and teachers alike. You are so inspiring and a fantastic role model." - Highdown School
"Ayo was an excellent speaker for DVERSTY's Intentional Engineering series, we were humbled to have her. She represented her experiences as a Chartered Civil Engineer and Councillor extremely well. Delivering her presentation so eloquently, Ayo gave our guests an insight into the DNA of Civil Engineering. We'd like to thank Ayo for encouraging everybody to use their 'voice' to challenge injustices seen in their environment" - Joanna, Co-Founder & Development Director, DVERSTY
"Very interesting- such a positive force of nature... people often say that change happens because people 'stand on the shoulders of giants'. Today, I think we've all just met a giant!" - NHS Network Members
"Ayo, I just wanted to say thank you very much for the talk today. Your energy and passion was incredible and you brought some very valuable insights and practical tips, for which we are very grateful. I truly don’t know where you find the time to do it all, but the talk and what you are achieving was a real inspiration both for me personally and I know for the 120+ people listening in" - Paul, CEO, XPS
- 2016 – Current Project Manager & BIM Lead at the Environment Agency
- 2017 – Named on The Independent’s Top 50 Women in Engineering Under 35
- 2017 – Selected as One of Professor Lord Robert Mair’s Future Leaders
- 2019 – Current Labour Councillor for Caversham
- 2013 – Miss Plymouth Galaxy & Miss Sussex
- Eco Warrior for the Institute of Civil Engineering
