London Business School’s MBA Class of 2027, along with a One-Year MBA, take center stage in this edition of our Real Humans: MBA Students.
To start, Alexander Russell arrives from a six-year run in rugby on Canada’s National Sevens Team, trading stadium lights for the City with a clear plan to re-enter finance. His leadership on the pitch—and advocacy off it, including raising more than $900,000 for epilepsy support inspired by his sister—now flows into the PE/VC, rugby, and Out-in-Business communities on campus. Then, Dr. Arun Banerji, a London GP and British Army reservist, is stepping from frontline care into the systems level, using LBS’s extended 21-month runway to target healthcare strategy and life sciences while diving into the Healthcare, Geopolitics & Business, and Military in Business clubs. Entrepreneur Dan Yates, fresh from co-founding climate-tech startup Greener and becoming a new father, joins the inaugural one-year MBA to switch sides of the table into venture capital, coupling PE/VC and Entrepreneurship with the Expedition Club.
We then meet Nairobi-raised consultant Joanne Ngotho, who chose LBS for the “passport to perspectives.” She’s aiming her multicultural lens at development and social impact while splitting time between the African Business Club, Women in Business, Social Impact, and the Run Club. From Hanoi, Mai Nguyen brings KPMG marketing roots and Dalberg strategy experience across government and UN projects, leaning into Consulting Club and a pro-bono ImpactCap engagement while savoring a faculty culture that keeps rigor fun. Londoner Nasreen Begum translates product management in AI and digital consulting into strategy problem-solving, spotlighting LBS’s seamless integration with the city’s business ecosystem and the school’s collaborative, low-ego vibe as she engages with Consulting, PE/VC, Women in Business, and Tech & Media.
Threaded through their stories are the hallmarks of LBS: a hyper-global classroom, a community that really does run on WhatsApp, and a curriculum that prizes personal reflection alongside analytics. Whether it’s chasing an MBA Rugby World Cup win in New York, debating health policy, scouting climate deals, or shipping a pro-bono project in London, this cohort is using the city—and each other—to turn diverse pasts into targeted, high-impact futures. Read on for their stories and an inside look at LBS.
