A Story From The Accenture UK Alumni Team
Meet UK Alumna Lola Okunrinboye
Lola is a Chartered Environmental professional, sharing her knowledge & experience on the latest environmental best practises through professional consulting, delivering training and speaking engagements. Her passionate for sustainability, coupled with her desire to connect and build strong networks of women to develop each another, led her to become the Women in Sustainability Network Lead for the Aberdeen Hub.
We caught up with Lola to reflect on her career journey so far, and her aspirations for the future.
A Master of Science
Lola studied at The University of Sheffield, completing a B.Eng. in Chemical and Process Engineering. During her final year of her undergraduate degree, she completed a module in Environmental Management, and this sparked her interest in furthering her studies in the environmental field. She then proceeded to achieve her M.Sc. in Environmental and Energy Engineering. She is passionate about sustainability and has worked in environmental roles ever since; with now over a decade of experience in a variety of industries.
A sustainable career
Lola started her career in sustainability as an Environmental Specialist for Halliburton in Aberdeen, where she spent 5 years, before furthering her experience and skills with other firms in the energy and construction sector.
In 2016, Lola took a two-year fixed contract at Accenture, as the Environmental Specialist for UK and Ireland; a role which involved maintaining the Environmental and Energy Management systems for all the offices in the UK and Ireland.
She tells us that she is most proud of eradicating single use plastics across all offices, as well as running a ‘coffee mug pilot programme' in the Fenchurch street office in London. Lola's legacy remains of course, as Accenture continues to move to zero waste, and has recently made a commitment to getting to net-zero by 2025.
Lola's favourite thing about working for Accenture was the flexible work patterns; working mainly from home and only in an office when required. She also mentioned that she participated in some Leadership Development programmes and feels that she particularly benefited from the ‘Accenture Future Leaders' training programme.
Life on a construction site
After leaving Accenture, Lola started working within the construction industry. She is now an Environmental Manager, working on a major construction project expanding the Aberdeen Harbour in Scotland. Her role involves ensuring that the project has minimal impact on the environment, in addition to complying with environmental legislations, consents and licences; which she tells us is the most challenging element of the role! Not only does she need to stay informed of changing environmental regulations, but she also needs to ensure that her company complies with the approved licences and consents.
Lola credits Accenture with equipping her with stakeholder engagement skills that have been invaluable in her current role, when dealing with multiple stakeholders. She tells us that working remotely made it much more challenging to effectively engaging stakeholders virtually, rather than face to face- but her experience and success at Accenture has set her up well for.
Out of office
Lola tells us that she has a young family, so her children keep her busy when she's not working – enjoying plenty of outdoor activities. What free time she does have, she spends mentoring and coaching young environmental professionals looking to become chartered. She has presented as a speaker and panellist in several forums and conferences discussing topics ranging from the intersectional environmentalism, how to succeed as a female leader in a male dominated industry, career progression and using technology as a tool to form strong connections. She leads the Women in Sustainability Network (WINS) Hub in Aberdeen. WINS is a global network for female change makers looking to maximise their impact and flourish in careers and businesses building a better world. She brings together women who share common values that include making a difference, treading lightly on this planet, being authentic and leading change.
Lola is currently reading "Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results." by Robert J. Anderson & William A. Adams. Concluding with some advice that has stuck with Lola throughout her career is to "never stop learning and be authentic".
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