Sarah Hoyle (’16)
Washington, D.C.
Wake Forest often talks about providing a transformational education for the next generation of leaders and equipping graduates to handle the complexities and challenges of their times. Sarah Hoyle (’16), a native of Clemmons, North Carolina, needed little convincing that her place was always to be in the middle of the complicated.
Hoyle, a senior consultant at Deloitte Consulting in Washington, D.C., spent her years at Wake Forest studying abroad to learn the importance of being a visitor; working with other students to discuss difficult issues around social and racial justice; working with Campus Kitchen to feed the hungry; and assisting World Relief resettle refugees in Winston-Salem. She had a habit of taking on big issues. And nothing has changed since the politics and international affairs major graduated from Wake Forest.
“Getting to deal with very real world problems is one of the reasons I wanted to go into government consulting specifically,” Hoyle said. “It’s going to make a difference in someone’s life. Government consulting is pulling a thread that could make change, and that’s where I want to be.”
One real-world problem that Hoyle has dedicated her interest and effort to is immigration. A volunteer group across the ranks at Deloitte has joined together around their interest in helping refugees. They have done direct-service work, like helping execute skills-based volunteering opportunities and assisting Afghan refugees that came in September 2021 with resume reviews. And they have also partnered with national and local organizations based in Washington, D.C.
One of those local organizations where Hoyle has invested her skills is Lutheran Social Services. Some of their work includes refugee and immigrant resettlement; workforce development and interpretation; family and children’s services, including foster care for unaccompanied refugee minors; and health and wellness services.
Another area that has captured Hoyle’s attention is child welfare.
“Child welfare is complicated,” she said. “Figuring out how a large organization can protect kids at a small level — within a home. What kind of policies need to be implemented to make sure kids are safe? It’s one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to work on and help figure out.”
And the challenge is what drives her as she anticipates her future and hopes it includes both of these areas of concern.
“I’ve worked on the ground, and I am hoping to go to graduate school so I can think about the bigger picture, understand the root causes associated with these concerns and understand the systems at work at a deeper level,” she said.
But her interest in helping people extends to how she approaches leading her own teams at Deloitte.
“At Wake Forest, I learned a lot about leadership and being a compassionate leader,” she said. “When things are tough, giving grace and giving space to people on your team is the best way to build trust and get where you all need to go. A lot of my mentors at Wake Forest exhibited that and set me up for success.”
Given that, it seems that Sarah Hoyle is exactly who we want helping address some of the world’s toughest challenges.
Sarah Hoyle received the George F. Hankins Scholarship, the Porter B. Byrum Scholarship and the Hubert Humphrey Studies Abroad Scholarship.
Leah Wyrick (’22)
“I have been given the opportunity to help change the lives of millions of other women.”