Join the Imperial Black Alumni Network (IBAN) this October for its next joint event with LSE in celebration of Black History Month.
Being run in partnership with the LSE Black Alumni Network for the second year running, IBAN look forward to welcoming alumni of both universities for an invigorating evening of conversation, learning and networking.
The evening will consist of panel discussions with esteemed LSE and Imperial alumni, followed by a networking reception.
There will be two panel discussions, split as follows:
- Innovation panel
- Leadership panel
With a vibrant community of 400+ professionals across the globe, you won’t want to miss IBAN’s autumn in-person networking event and the chance to connect with peers from a fellow world-leading London institution.
Imperial alumni, staff and students can book here.
If you have contacts from LSE who might be interested in attending, please ask them to sign up via the LSE website.
Key details
Date: Wednesday 15 October
Time: 18.30 – 20.30
Location: LSE Shaw Library, Houghton St, London WC2A 2AE
Cost: free
Register: book your spot here. Students, staff and alumni all welcome.
Imperial panellists speaking at this event
Chukwudum Chukwuedo (MSc Business Analytics 2022) – Data Science & AI Engineering Manager at Accenture UK, with over a decade of experience delivering AI-, cloud-, and data-driven innovation across the public health, energy, and industrial sectors. He focuses on turning ideas into measurable impact, using disciplined innovation to achieve results in complex, resource constrained environments. Combining technical depth with strategic foresight, Chukwudum helps organisations realise the value of AI responsibly and at scale. His approach balances innovation, practicality, and human insight, ensuring technology serves meaningful, sustainable outcomes. His career spans Accenture, Chevron, and collaborations with clients across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Chukwudum is speaking on the innovation panel.
Shawn Ford (MBA 2016) – Managing Director at Vibranium Bridge, architecting transformational strategies at the intersection of operational excellence and AI innovation. He brings leadership experience from Amazon Europe, where he scaled and optimised pan-European fulfilment operations, and from PwC, where he drove enterprise-wide performance programmes and strategic transformations for global organisations. His work spans healthcare, energy, ecommerce, and infrastructure, delivering measurable impact. Shawn holds advanced AI certifications from Stanford/DeepLearning.ai. He is also a practitioner at the Alan Turing Institute’s Turing Way Practitioners Hub, advancing responsible AI adoption. Shawn is speaking on the leadership panel.
Dr Kayisha Payne (MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering 2017) – Senior Associate at Alvarez & Marsal and Founder of BBSTEM (Black British Professionals in STEM), a non-profit focused on increasing the representation of Black British scientists and engineers in industry and academia. Kayisha has gained industry experience as a Process Engineer in the cosmetics sector, where she played a key role in launching a popular product. She previously worked in Project Management within the Pharmaceutical and Technology team at Mace, and as a Biopharmaceutical Process Development Scientist at AstraZeneca. Kayisha’s leadership has been widely recognised, she was named one of the Financial Times’ Top 100 Most Influential BAME Leaders (2018), received the STEM Rising Star Award at the Black British Business Awards (2019), and was listed among the Top 50 Women in Engineering (2020). Kayisha is speaking on the innovation panel.
About the Imperial Black Alumni Network (IBAN)
This event has been brought to you by IBAN in partnership with LSE’s Black Alumni Network.
Read more about the work of IBAN and meet the committee here.