The Company
Unofficial Social Chair (USC) is both a storytelling consultancy and [social] impact production agency for the media and entertainment sector.
We are driven by answering the questions, how can we [as members of society] be more culturally aware and turn this awareness into action?
Vision
Where cultural curiosity begets social change.
Mission
Tell and support stories that move the collective forward.
Services
Content Development
Curatorial / Programming
Impact Strategy
Production & Operations
The Founder
Ayo Oti is a media entrepreneur and social impact professional who champions content that creates change. In 2023, she founded Unofficial Social Chair (USC) to draw on her experience as a social impact professional who has worked in government, the nonprofit sector, higher education, and media.
Under USC, Ayo is the publisher of Sounds Like Impact, a curated hub and resource for social impact podcasting. She has produced podcasts herself, including for the Environmental Defense Fund’s season 6 of Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers.
Ayo is also an emerging filmmaker. She is currently developing two documentary films: one exploring first-generation Nigerian identity, and the other highlighting Black creatives who have lived and worked in Mexico.
When not working on her own projects, she supports other filmmakers as a producer. Currently, she serves as a line producer on the experimental documentary film Your Pain Was Born Here for Sothis Films.
For her efforts in social impact storytelling, Ayo was appointed as a judge for the Anthem Awards, a role she has held since 2023.
Additional Background
Before launching her own business, Ayo worked at Spotify, first on production for the podcast How to Save a Planet, where she produced “An Origin Story of the Blue New Deal” and after as an audience engagement editor who often curated social impact campaigns with Spotify’s CSR teams. While working on How to Save a Planet, Ayo was tapped by co-host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson to support the paperback launch of the All We Can Save anthology, coordinating social media events and other audience engagement efforts.
In addition to working in media, Ayo has also worked in the private sector at companies such as American Express and Gartner, higher education, government, and in nonprofit. She also completed the prestigious Princeton in Latin America fellowship at Sacred Valley Health in Peru. Though her career sectors have been varied, Ayo’s commitment to creating social good has never wavered. She has served as a board member of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable since 2019.
Ayo has an MBA from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and a BA in International Environmental Public Health and Human Ecology from The Macaulay Honors College at The City College of New York. She is a Truman Scholar for Public Service.
Follow Ayo on LinkedIn to stay up to date with her business and professional impact.
Unofficial Social Chair 