Meet Toyin Ogunfolaju

How does social equity and community outreach inform large programs?

Prioritizing social equity and community outreach is a means of getting the most out of a large program. If you envision it, if you intentionally plan, design and deliver it with this in mind, you’ll get a larger yield or return on the investment. It’s critical that programs be delivered on time and within budget, but delivering projects with social equity in mind will maximize and support the legacy of the organization delivering that program. I truly think we can look at these large programs, their infrastructure and assets, and think about them as more of a social asset. When you think about it in that context, we can start to address some of the larger social issues around underinvestment, how infrastructure can bring people together and start to solve challenges.

Community engagement can never be overstated. It informs the understanding of potential benefits and burdens of project delivery. Meaningful inclusive engagement tries to avoid making assumptions about community needs, preferences or lived experiences. If co-creation is built into the program vision, carried out over the life of the program, the community will see themselves in the investment, and have a sense of co-ownership. 

How does a focus on social equity bring about positive impact on the communities we serve? 

Everything is connected. I think about when I was younger, and if someone had told me that a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) was an option, I might have had a slightly different career trajectory, or even gone to school to become an engineer! I can’t believe they let a liberal arts major run rapid like this. 

Integrating social value into how we at Jacobs talk about our work and how we talk about the people behind the work, can plant seeds for folks who will become our future problem solvers, tackling the biggest challenges. I think you can't oversell that connectivity. That someone who is contributing to the industry can bring their lived experience to delivering work, creating more texture to it. They then get to pass that learning along to their families and loved ones fueling that ecosystem, uplifting and exposing another generation to how we can use our tools for a positive impact, a greater good.

How many individuals grew up not necessarily being exposed to blue or green spaces? Think about what difference can be made in quality of life and wellbeing by delivering programs and projects that create more access to those spaces. 

When you think about climate response, which we know is one of the biggest challenges of our generation, how can we retool, prioritize and upgrade our infrastructure and assets in a way that can really prioritize communities so that they are resilient to climate change?

Can you share an important lesson you’ve learned in recent years? 

I've been fortunate to work with exceptional, talented individuals with diverse geographical backgrounds, life experiences and different careers. What I've learned is that this idea of social value, of social equity, is not some aspirational idea that can't be attained in our day-to-day. I can’t think of systems, institutions, processes that couldn't support or maximize social value impact. There is potential – social value is in everything that we do. Whether we're talking about financing, the environment, economics, or transportation, it's everywhere.

Knowing this, we can operationalize how we develop policies. We can operationalize this in how we engage in the community. We can realize this through how we put out our procurements for services and products and in our supply chain. The sky’s the limit.

When you aren’t working, what are we most likely to find you doing? 

I have a young son, so life revolves around him. Between the playground and dinosaur museums, and singing “baby shark,” I’m busy!

In my less busy past, I’ve helped kids with writing and mentoring them with their schoolwork through the Mighty Writers program. I was also, at one time, a court-appointed special advocate for kids in the foster system. I’m also active in several industry organizations.

What is your favorite part of working at #OurJacobs?

It's the people. I can't overstate that – the people and the heart of the folks I work with. They really care about what they do, the quality and impact of their work, and holding our organization accountable to make sure that it is a priority all day, every day.