Williamz Omope, founder of WO Consultancy, on the importance of tailoring support for people’s needs
Some of the most important lessons of my career did not come from a job – they came from sitting beside my mother as she tried to make sense of technology the rest of the world expected her to understand.
She did not need someone to do it for her. What she needed was a safe space to learn, to explore, get things wrong and to try again without feeling foolish. She needed patience, trust and someone who believed she could.
Being that person for her taught me something that has shaped everything since; people do not fall behind because they lack ability, they are failed by systems that were never designed with them in mind.
This is why my WO Consultancy exists.
I am of this community. I did not arrive in Enfield to ‘deliver a service’ – I grew up understanding that one size has never fit all, and that the people most often overlooked are the ones who do not fit the neat boxes a programme is built around. That perspective is the thread running through everything I have done.
WO’s mantra is simple – be disruptive in the spaces we occupy. Go against the grain, refuse to be performative, centre the community, and lead with lived experience rather than assumptions. That is not a slogan, it is how we work, and how we have survived.
Because the truth is, we have had to. The data on funding is stark; black-led organisations receive far less of it. We get a smaller slice of the pie and always have. So we decided early on not to depend on it.
Instead, we set out to be so good at what we do that we would be commissioned on merit – trusted, recommended, and known for the quality of our work. It is one of my proudest moments when I meet people across London who have already heard of WO.
What we do is build spaces where people feel they belong. Our job clubs have no eligibility criteria and no gatekeeping – you are welcome whether you are unemployed, self-employed, a carer, a student, or simply stuck – and you can keep coming back until you are ready.
Today our clubs run across Enfield and Finsbury Park, with a new one opening in West London this November. We run digital inclusion workshops all over the capital, from Brixton, to the Barbican, to Leytonstone; carrying our own mobile suite of laptops and tablets so that a lack of equipment is never the reason someone gets left out.
None of it happens alone. We work alongside a growing coalition of people who simply refuse to accept that opportunity should depend on your postcode.
This matters more now than ever. Digital exclusion is still very real, and the world of work is changing at an extraordinary speed. Artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping how people find jobs and how they do them. If we do not prepare our communities for what is coming, the people already furthest from opportunity will be left even further behind. I am not willing to let that happen.
That is what Community Connect is about. It’s our biggest event of the year, taking place on Thursday, 22nd October at the Living Room Library in Fore Street, Angel Edmonton.
This is not a job fair or a conference, it’s a day to raise aspirations, to bring health, confidence, careers, wellbeing and real human connection under one roof, for free, with dignity, and with no barriers. It is where everything we believe becomes something you can see and feel.
This year it carries an even greater purpose. I am proud to be taking on the role of employment lead for Enfield Youth and Community Alliance, and we are using Community Connect 2026 as the launchpad for our shared work on employment in the years ahead – joining up brilliant local organisations, sharing what works, and building a collective offer worthy of the people it serves.
I have invested a long time in this community, and it began with something very simple; making sure one person felt capable and seen. I am not done yet – in truth, we’re only just getting started.
For more information about WO Consultancy and the upcoming Community Connect event:
Visit woconsultancy.co.uk
This article is published with support from LocalMotion Enfield, part of a UK-wide movement for community-led change
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