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

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.
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.
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.
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).

More about Geff
In addition, Geff:
-
has shared his knowledge with many other organisations through informal direct ‘coaching’ sessions
-
has 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
-
is a Trustee or Board Member of three important LGBTQ+ charities or associations in the UK: GiveOut (a charity encouraging giving to international LGBTQ+ activists on the ground in jurisdictions where LGBTQ+ rights and protections are limited), Diversity Role Models (a charity seeking to address anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice in schools), and Pride in Tennis (a new initiative sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion at all levels of tennis in the UK)
-
has worked with multiple other LGBTQ+ charities, including Stonewall, Opening Doors London (for older LGBTQ+ people) and The Outside Project (for homeless LGBTQ+ people)
-
is currently a steering committee member for the British LGBT Awards
-
has acted as a judge for both the PinkNews Awards and the British LGBT Awards.