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Making the world a more inclusive place, one organisation
at a time.

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About The Inclusion Imperative

The Inclusion Imperative is an independent Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultancy organisation.

 

Its CEO (‘Chief Empathy Officer’), Geffrye Parsons, uses his experience, knowledge, creativity and energy to help entities harness the power of inclusion as a key strategy for organisational learning and superior business outcomes. He has a particular expertise in LGBTQ+ inclusion, and its intersectionality with other marginalised characteristics.

 

Geffrye (better known as just “Geff”) is an agitator, disruptor and thought leader in the DE&I space, and a driver of positive change. He focuses on challenging received wisdoms to foster cultural reinvention, and encouraging business learning by promoting the value of authenticity, personal agency and psychological safety in the workplace. 

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Geff has extensive experience of leading inclusion initiatives, including training, coaching, mentoring and awareness campaigns, especially for LGBTQ+ inclusion. As well as prioritising an intersectional approach, he brings the benefit of a practical, commercial perspective - he worked in senior front office roles in the financial and professional services industries for 35 years prior to launching The Inclusion Imperative in 2022.

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Geff took his former employer, Macquarie Group, from outside the top 300 to #1 in Stonewall’s annual Workplace Equality Index for 2022. 

 

As a Managing Director and long-standing chair of its LGBTQ+ employee resource group, Geff also led Macquarie to winning the inaugural ‘Business Equality’ award at the annual PinkNews Awards in 2018, in recognition of its exemplary commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion. Under his direction, Macquarie has also been shortlisted as a Top Ten Inclusive Employer by the British LGBT Awards for 2022. 

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Individually, Geff has been honoured with the following accolades:

  • winning the award of ‘LGBT+ Inspirational Leader’ at the British LGBT Awards in 2019

  • featuring in the Pride Power List 2022, the list of the 100 most influential LGBTQ+ people in the UK, published by The Guardian

  • being shortlisted for the ‘Corporate/Business Role Model’ award at the PinkNews Awards twice (2018 and 2022)

  • three times (2018, 2019 and 2021) being ranked in the annual list of the ‘Top 100 LGBTQ+ Executives’ globally (sponsored by the Financial Times/Yahoo Finance).

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More about Geff

 

In addition, Geff:

  • is a Trustee, Board Member, Board Advisor or Committee Member of multiple charities or associations, including currently:

    • GiveOut (Trustee and Treasurer) – which facilitates charitable giving to LGBTQ+ activist organisations

    • Voda (Advisory Board member) – which supports mental health and wellbeing

    • Career Accelerator (Advisory Board member) – which supports young people from diverse backgrounds prepare for professional careers

    • Open for Business (Finance Committee member) – which espouses the rationale for inclusive workplace practices

    • Pride at Work Canada (Thought Leadership committee member) – encouraging the building of inclusive workplaces

    • Pride in Tennis (Board Member and Treasurer) – which promotes inclusion in and through sports.

  • was also formerly a Trustee of:

    • Diversity Role Models - an anti-bullying charity

    • London Village Network - a charity seeking to empower under-privileged young people to fulfil their potential.

  • has also:

    • worked with multiple other LGBTQ+ charities, including Stonewall, Opening Doors London (for older LGBTQ+ people) and The Outside Project (for homeless LGBTQ+ people)

    • ​spearheaded and organised a great number of educational and awareness-rising events and campaigns purposefully addressing ‘challenging’ LGBTQ+ intersectional subjects, including faith, hate crime/speech, bullying, conversion therapy, minority ethnicity, disability, agedness, poverty and infertility

    • acted as a steering committee member for the British LGBT Awards

    • acted as a judge for the PinkNews Awards, the British LGBT Awards and the Queer Student Awards.

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