My Immigrant Story Episode 2 — Meet our guest Ayo Owodunni
Earlier this month, VisaWire launched the “My Immigrant Story” podcast! Every 1–2 weeks we bring in a new guest who is a first generation Canadian immigrant skilled professional or entrepreneur and learn about how they first discovered Canada, immigrated to the country, and set themselves up for success professionally. We also uncover what are some of the main pieces of advice they have for newcomer professionals looking to build their career in Canada.
Our next guest is Ayo Owodunni! He is a Senior Manager at the Black Professionals In Tech Network (BPTN) Inc. Since moving to Canada, he has worked as a Management Consultant, Real Estate Investor, and a Community Activist.
Ayo founded the Coalition of African Associations, a not for profit that had 15 African associations working together for the empowerment and development of Africans in the community. The coalition has now merged with the African Canadian Association of the Waterloo Region. He is also on the board of Adventure4Change, a not for profit focused on programs dedicated to developing and helping underprivileged youth in the Sunnydale community in Waterloo.
Ayo is a columnist on the CBC radio segment called How To Canada. The show runs in Kitchener, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Quebec. He also runs his own podcast called “The Immigrant View”. The goal of his podcast is to help immigrants maximize their potential in Canada. Ayo releases new episodes every week and focus on a variety of topics that are relevant and helpful to Canadian newcomers.
During this episode, we discuss Ayo’s motivation for moving to Canada and the importance of educating organizations and recruiters about people from different cultures. We also talk about how finding mentors and help through networking sets you on the path of professional success earlier on.
To hear Ayo’s full story, tune in on Thursday (December 16) when the episode will be live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. You can find all of the My Immigrant Story episodes at the following link.
