The People and Culture Committee is a subcommittee of the University Management Board. The People and Culture Committee is Imperial's high-level committee for equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and is chaired by Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London.
On 1 September 2023, Professor Lesley Cohen and Dr Wayne Mitchell were appointed to the role of Associate Provost (EDI), taking over from Professor Stephen Curry.
Key College leaders on EDI
Lesley Cohen
Associate Provost (EDI)
Lesley is Professor of Experimental Solid State Physics in the Department of Physics. Since joining Imperial in 1991, she has held several leadership positions, including Consul for the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Education Office, Head of the Experimental Solid State Physics Group, and Director of Postgraduate Studies for the Department of Physics.
Professor Cohen was responsible for setting up the Juno Committee in the Department of Physics, which was the key factor in the department being the first in the country to be awarded both Juno Champion status and an Athena Silver Swan Award. Professor Cohen was the first Faculty of Natural Sciences Academic Ambassador for Women. She was also the first recipient of the Julia Higgins Medal in recognition of her activities to promote transparency, equality and employment best practice in Imperial.
Wayne Mitchell
Associate Provost (EDI)
Dr Wayne Mitchell is Senior Teaching Fellow, Senior Welfare Tutor and Graduate Teaching Assistant Coordinator in the Department of Immunology and Inflammation. He first joined Imperial as a Research Fellow in 2005, and returned in 2015.
Wayne is the EDI Champion for the Department of Immunology and Inflammation. He chairs the Imperial As One race equality network for staff and postgraduate students, and he was a member of Imperial’s Race Equality Charter Self Assessment Team and History Group.
In 2022, Wayne co-hosted the Black Graduate Career Conference. As a result of the international connections he made, he established a collaboration to conduct research on the impact of Black Lives Matter on people of colour in higher education. This collaboration resulted in Imperial hosting the first Symposium on Transatlantic Racial Reckoning (STARR): Imagining Anti-Racist Academic Worlds in 2023.
Susan Littleson
Deputy Director (Organisational Development and Inclusion), Human Resources and Organisational Change
My job is to create a positive working environment and culture which enables individuals to excel and the College to maintain its position as a world leader.
I achieve this via my three teams: the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre; the People and Organisational Development; and the Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre.
Part of my role is ensuring EDI issues are embedded in the people agenda, so I am responsible for the EDI Strategy Group and sit on key College committees.
Please contact me about EDI and Imperial's culture.
Kani Kamara
Head of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre
I’ve worked for the College in several roles. I started as an HR Advisor, and became a HR Manager for the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
I then moved into the equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) team as a manager and am now the Head of the EDI Centre. In this role I provide consultancy services for teams and departments in College.
I lead on harassment support and also provide disability advice for staff.
You can contact me by email me or drop by the office. I and my team listen and provide staff with help and support in the strictest confidence.