Efe Odeleye
Founder + CEO, Sojorne
Bio: Efe Odeleye is the founder of Sojorne, a tech enabled pediatric care platform for children with special needs, autism or neurological differences. Prior to founding Sojorne, Efe worked in public education for more than 15 years and founded Achievers Early College Prep, New Jersey’s first early college middle and high school. Efe is an alum of Teach For America and previously worked with Uncommon Schools. She has also worked extensively in Africa with the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Freedom Foundation, supporting entrepreneurs and vulnerable women and children. Efe lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children, one of whom has been diagnosed with autism and intellectual disabilities.
Org Info: Sojorne provides affordable, hybrid behavior therapy and care navigation to families, particularly those seeking autism treatment. Members gain access to a care navigator, regular newsletters, webinars, and parent training resources. Sojorne’s hybrid parent-supported ABA therapy model empowers parents to play a more active role in developing the necessary skills for their autistic children to thrive and bridge gaps in service availability, especially in underserved areas. This model ensures continuous support and measurable progress under the supervision of licensed BCBAs.
What motivated you to pursue your current work?
11 years ago I not only became a parent, but I became the parent of a child with autism and multiple complex health conditions. For years, I have personally struggled with knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to best care for my child. In 2022, I was completing paperwork for my daughter’s medical procedure and felt a sudden sense of overwhelm with the tasks before me, even though I had done this hundreds of times at that point in my journey. It was at that time that we decided to launch Sojorne—to support parents through the care journey.
What distinct value does your work bring to the digital health field?
Current approaches to autism treatment are clinician led, fragmented and at times, dysfunctional. Few approaches focus on providing holistic, family centered intervention that incorporates the role of the parent and family caregivers in improving behavioral outcomes for neurodivergent children. Sojorne makes parent and family caregivers central to early intervention and treatment of autism by equipping caregivers with digital care coordination tools, care navigation support, easily accessible parent training, and readily available therapies for their children. We aim to improve the lifetime behavioral outcomes of neurodivergent kids and provide the necessary parental and caregiver support.
How does your work impact your target end-users or stakeholders?
Our work profoundly impacts our target end-users by making parents and family caregivers central to autism treatment and support. Unlike traditional clinician-led approaches, Sojorne empowers parents with essential tools, including care navigation, training, and hybrid therapies, to enhance early intervention and lifelong behavioral health outcomes. This approach addresses gaps in service availability, particularly for marginalized communities, by providing continuous support and personalized care plans. Ultimately, we aim to improve the long-term outcomes for children and families, ensuring they receive the comprehensive support they need for better health and well-being.
What is one exciting update or near-term opportunity that you would like to share with the digital health community?
We have recently completed several rounds of parent focus groups and have learned more about blockers, accessibility, content and strategies to help make regular training something parents actually utilize. We have learned that long format, sequential training is not their preference, and that digital supports have to be as easy as accessing Facebook groups, which is still where many parents still go for care navigation. While there is more work to be done, we are building our understanding about the stages of support, cadence of support, and how we can make engaging, timely and personalized training available to parents through a combination of digital and traditional channels.
Bio: Efe Odeleye is the founder of Sojorne, a tech enabled pediatric care platform for children with special needs, autism or neurological differences. Prior to founding Sojorne, Efe worked in public education for more than 15 years and founded Achievers Early College Prep, New Jersey’s first early college middle and high school. Efe is an alum of Teach For America and previously worked with Uncommon Schools. She has also worked extensively in Africa with the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Freedom Foundation, supporting entrepreneurs and vulnerable women and children. Efe lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children, one of whom has been diagnosed with autism and intellectual disabilities.
Org Info: Sojorne provides affordable, hybrid behavior therapy and care navigation to families, particularly those seeking autism treatment. Members gain access to a care navigator, regular newsletters, webinars, and parent training resources. Sojorne’s hybrid parent-supported ABA therapy model empowers parents to play a more active role in developing the necessary skills for their autistic children to thrive and bridge gaps in service availability, especially in underserved areas. This model ensures continuous support and measurable progress under the supervision of licensed BCBAs.
What motivated you to pursue your current work?
11 years ago I not only became a parent, but I became the parent of a child with autism and multiple complex health conditions. For years, I have personally struggled with knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to best care for my child. In 2022, I was completing paperwork for my daughter’s medical procedure and felt a sudden sense of overwhelm with the tasks before me, even though I had done this hundreds of times at that point in my journey. It was at that time that we decided to launch Sojorne—to support parents through the care journey.
What distinct value does your work bring to the digital health field?
Current approaches to autism treatment are clinician led, fragmented and at times, dysfunctional. Few approaches focus on providing holistic, family centered intervention that incorporates the role of the parent and family caregivers in improving behavioral outcomes for neurodivergent children. Sojorne makes parent and family caregivers central to early intervention and treatment of autism by equipping caregivers with digital care coordination tools, care navigation support, easily accessible parent training, and readily available therapies for their children. We aim to improve the lifetime behavioral outcomes of neurodivergent kids and provide the necessary parental and caregiver support.
How does your work impact your target end-users or stakeholders?
Our work profoundly impacts our target end-users by making parents and family caregivers central to autism treatment and support. Unlike traditional clinician-led approaches, Sojorne empowers parents with essential tools, including care navigation, training, and hybrid therapies, to enhance early intervention and lifelong behavioral health outcomes. This approach addresses gaps in service availability, particularly for marginalized communities, by providing continuous support and personalized care plans. Ultimately, we aim to improve the long-term outcomes for children and families, ensuring they receive the comprehensive support they need for better health and well-being.
What is one exciting update or near-term opportunity that you would like to share with the digital health community?
We have recently completed several rounds of parent focus groups and have learned more about blockers, accessibility, content and strategies to help make regular training something parents actually utilize. We have learned that long format, sequential training is not their preference, and that digital supports have to be as easy as accessing Facebook groups, which is still where many parents still go for care navigation. While there is more work to be done, we are building our understanding about the stages of support, cadence of support, and how we can make engaging, timely and personalized training available to parents through a combination of digital and traditional channels.