Stephanie Itimi is the Founder and Chair of Seidea CIC, an award-winning social enterprise that has supported over 8,000 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women in breaking into cybersecurity through skills training, career development, and job placement. She currently serves as the Director of Information Protection and Compliance at Age UK, where she leads data governance and cybersecurity strategy for one of the UK’s largest charities.

A former Non-Executive Director at NHS Blood and Transplant, Stephanie contributed to strategic planning and workforce development at a national level. She is also a contributor to the World Economic Forum’s Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 report and a LinkedIn Learning Instructor for the “Explainable AI in Cybersecurity” course.

Stephanie is pursuing her PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, where her research explores employee surveillance practices within Information Security. Internationally, she played a pivotal role in launching the BBC World Service’s first WhatsApp-based public health service, used to combat Ebola disinformation in West Africa. The initiative reached over 16,000 users and fostered partnerships with UNICEF, WHO, WFP, and CDC. She also represented the Nigerian embassy on a circular economy trade mission to the Netherlands.

Her consulting experience spans Slovakia, Morocco, the UK, and multiple African countries, focusing on digital literacy, gender equity, and data rights. She has worked with organisations including UN Women, the European Commission, Balloon Ventures, and Culture Fez. Stephanie also contributes to the Digital Futures in Africa platform, examining the ethics of AI deployment in Nigeria in collaboration with the University of Lagos, the Society for International Development, and SOIF.