Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ayomide Sokale serves as a Surveillance Epidemiologist at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. A first-generation African American woman, Ayomide is proud to work in a city where over 40% of residents identify as African American and in a division—Maternal, Child, and Family Health (MCFH)—where staff demographics reflect those of the communities they serve. For Ayomide, seeing herself in the data she analyzes and learning from community lived experience experts has deepened her commitment to using data as a tool for equity and change.

Ayomide’s passion for public health was reinforced during her MPH practicum with the World Health Organization’s country office in Nigeria, where she supported outbreak response efforts during an extended meningitis epidemic. That experience sharpened her focus on surveillance and the role of global and local data systems in protecting vulnerable populations.

In her current role, Ayomide leads surveillance work to improve outcomes for birthing and parenting people and infants across Philadelphia. She is committed to ensuring data is collected and interpreted with community input and used to inform equitable policy and programming. Her leadership is rooted in the belief that equity must extend to the most vulnerable in society—and that data must be part of the solution. She’s inspired by the words of Michelle Obama: “People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together.”