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

About The Inclusion Imperative
The Inclusion Imperative is an independent organisation providing organisational and leadership development-related consulting /advisory, professional development / training, and keynote speaking services to businesses.
Based in Canada and the UK, The Inclusion Imperative is certified as a Diverse Supplier by Canada’s LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC).
Founded by its CEO ("Chief Empathy Officer"), Geffrye Parsons (“Geff”), with the stated ambition of “making the world a more inclusive place, one organisation at a time”, it provides consulting / advisory, professional development / training, and keynote speaking services, all oriented around business transformation and leadership development through inclusion, psychological safety and change agency.
Geff -- who is is widely regarded as an agitator, constructive disruptor, thought leader and driver of positive change for workplace inclusion -- challenges received wisdom and practices to facilitate culture shift and business learning.
What really sets Geff apart is that, unlike most practitioners in this space, he does not stop at theory; instead, he brings the benefit of a practical perspective to his work. This is the product of the value-adding effects of what Geff did professionally prior to launching The Inclusion Imperative in early 2022 - and in particular:
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the 35 years he spent in successful client-facing executive roles, based in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Netherlands, working for leading international financial and professional services organisations; and
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the decade or so at the end of that time during which Geff became a renowned and very active changemaker in the inclusion space, initially through his lived experience as an LGBTQ+ executive (leading his former employer, Macquarie, to #1 in the annual Stonewall rankings in 2022) and subsequently on a fully intersectional basis - which activities earned him multiple accolades, including from the likes of the Pride Power List, the British LGBT Awards, the PinkNews Awards, the Financial Times and Yahoo Finance.
Services now delivered by Geff include:
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Speaking – keynotes, panels and interviews (including chairing and moderating)
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Training / workshops – on a bespoke, cohort-targeted basis
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Leadership development – training and coaching of executives and people managers
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Mentoring – mainly for future leaders
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Consulting / diagnostics – for example, on workplace practices, policies and systems
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Content generation – thought leadership articles, blogs and posts; for example, Geff has been designated as a ‘Top Voice’ by LinkedIn for each of Leadership, Culture Change and Executive Management, and is a regular op-ed contributor to CXO Magazine and other business journals
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Strategic guidance on matters such as the optimisation of:
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Diversity Committees and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
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the organisational infrastructure needed to really drive an inclusive workplace culture
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submissions for external benchmarks, indices and awards
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impactful events and communications campaigns.
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More about Geff
Alongside his prior career as a Managing Director in financial services and now running The Inclusion Imperative, Geff holds or has held multiple other fractional roles which further support and inform his capabilities in promoting inclusive workplace practices.
These include:
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as BOARD DIRECTOR of:
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LGBTQ Corporate Directors Canada (Director) – which seeks to improve corporate governance by increasing the representation of the LGBTQ+ community in Canada’s corporate boardrooms (current)
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Pride in Tennis (Board Member and Treasurer) – which promotes inclusion in and through sports (current)
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as a TRUSTEE of:
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Open for Business – which espouses the rationale for inclusive workplace practices (current)
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GiveOut – which facilitates charitable giving to support LGBTQ+ activist organisations globally (current)
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Diversity Role Models – an anti-bullying charity (formerly)
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London Village Network – a charity supporting the aspirations of under-privileged young people (formerly)
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as an ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER of:
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Voda (Advisory Board member) – a mental health and wellbeing app by and for LGBTQ+ people (current)
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Career Accelerator (Advisory Board member) – which supports young people from diverse backgrounds prepare for professional careers (current)
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- as a former JUDGE of:
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the Diversity Network Awards
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the British LGBT Awards
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the PinkNews Awards
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the Queer Student Awards.
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