Membership Directory - Individual
Geffrye Parsons
Founder & CRO at The Inclusion Imperative
About
Bio: Geffrye (he/him) is the Founder and CEO (Chief Empathy Officer) of The Inclusion Imperative, an independent Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) consulting, training and public speaking practice.
An agitator, disruptor and thought leader in the DE&I space, Geff drives positive change within commercial organisations by challenging received wisdoms and practices, to facilitate cultural reinvention. He helps to build leadership capabilities and knowledge, and encourages business learning and individual wellbeing by promoting the value of authenticity, personal agency and psychological safety in the workplace.
To do so, he takes a practical, rather than just theoretical approach drawing on his 35-year experience as a gay front office executive in the world of financial services (based in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Netherlands), from which he retired in early 2022 to set up The Inclusion Imperative.
Geff has received multiple decorations for his efforts promoting workplace inclusion, including as long-standing chair of the LGBTQ+ Business Resource Group at his former employer in the UK, in which capacity he led it both to winning the Business Equality award at the annual PinkNews Awards, and to #1 (from outside the top 300) in the annual Stonewall rankings for 2022.
Since launching The Inclusion Imperative, Geff has also taken his advisory and consulting client, Linklaters, from outside the top 50 to #1 in the annual Stonewall rankings for 2024 – making it, like Macquarie before it, officially the most LGBTQ+ friendly employer in the country.
Individually, Geff has also won the Inspirational Leader of the Year award at the annual British LGBT Awards, been named on OUTstanding’s annual list of the top 100 LGBTQ+ executives globally (three times), been nominated for the Business Role Model of the year award at the PinkNews Awards (twice), and been ranked on The Guardian’s Pride Power List of the 100 most infliential LGBTQ+ people in the UK (twice, including in 2024).
Alongside running The Inclusion Imperative, in which capacity (has provided services to a great many leading corporates, institutions and government bodies), Geff is now designated as a Top Voice on LinkedIn for each of Leadership, Culture Change and Executive Management, and holds, or has held, fractional roles as a Trustee, Board/Committee member or Board Advisor for a number of organisations promoting inclusion nationally and globally. These include:
Open for Business (espousing the business rationale for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion)
GiveOut (facilitating charitable giving to LGBTQ+ causes internationally)
Voda (supporting LGBTQ+ mental health and wellbeing)
Career Accelerator (helping young people from diverse backgrounds to prepare for professional careers)
Diversity Role Models (tackling anti-minority bullying)
Pride at Work Canada (promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion for Canadian employers)
Pride in Tennis (promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion in and through sport)
London Village Network (helping under-privileged young people realise their potential).
Geff is also an active tennis player, and plays international tournaments on the Gay & Lesbian Tennis Alliance (GLTA) circuit alongside his husband, Kevin. In this capacity, he has also competed (and medalled) in several Gay Games.
An agitator, disruptor and thought leader in the DE&I space, Geff drives positive change within commercial organisations by challenging received wisdoms and practices, to facilitate cultural reinvention. He helps to build leadership capabilities and knowledge, and encourages business learning and individual wellbeing by promoting the value of authenticity, personal agency and psychological safety in the workplace.
To do so, he takes a practical, rather than just theoretical approach drawing on his 35-year experience as a gay front office executive in the world of financial services (based in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Netherlands), from which he retired in early 2022 to set up The Inclusion Imperative.
Geff has received multiple decorations for his efforts promoting workplace inclusion, including as long-standing chair of the LGBTQ+ Business Resource Group at his former employer in the UK, in which capacity he led it both to winning the Business Equality award at the annual PinkNews Awards, and to #1 (from outside the top 300) in the annual Stonewall rankings for 2022.
Since launching The Inclusion Imperative, Geff has also taken his advisory and consulting client, Linklaters, from outside the top 50 to #1 in the annual Stonewall rankings for 2024 – making it, like Macquarie before it, officially the most LGBTQ+ friendly employer in the country.
Individually, Geff has also won the Inspirational Leader of the Year award at the annual British LGBT Awards, been named on OUTstanding’s annual list of the top 100 LGBTQ+ executives globally (three times), been nominated for the Business Role Model of the year award at the PinkNews Awards (twice), and been ranked on The Guardian’s Pride Power List of the 100 most infliential LGBTQ+ people in the UK (twice, including in 2024).
Alongside running The Inclusion Imperative, in which capacity (has provided services to a great many leading corporates, institutions and government bodies), Geff is now designated as a Top Voice on LinkedIn for each of Leadership, Culture Change and Executive Management, and holds, or has held, fractional roles as a Trustee, Board/Committee member or Board Advisor for a number of organisations promoting inclusion nationally and globally. These include:
Open for Business (espousing the business rationale for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion)
GiveOut (facilitating charitable giving to LGBTQ+ causes internationally)
Voda (supporting LGBTQ+ mental health and wellbeing)
Career Accelerator (helping young people from diverse backgrounds to prepare for professional careers)
Diversity Role Models (tackling anti-minority bullying)
Pride at Work Canada (promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion for Canadian employers)
Pride in Tennis (promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion in and through sport)
London Village Network (helping under-privileged young people realise their potential).
Geff is also an active tennis player, and plays international tournaments on the Gay & Lesbian Tennis Alliance (GLTA) circuit alongside his husband, Kevin. In this capacity, he has also competed (and medalled) in several Gay Games.
Geff comments:
“I fervently believe in the moral AND commercial imperative of LGBTQ+ inclusion, and that commercial organisations can and should be real agents of positive change in this space. As a long-time front office executive in the world of financial services, I have seen first-hand the adverse effects which a lack of inclusive behaviour and culture can have, not only on the people directly affected, but also on those who associate with them by proxy and indeed on the health and success of the organisation itself. LGBT Great is a terrific vehicle for shining a light on, and guiding through, the path towards more LGBTQ+ inclusive work practices and environments.”
Project 1000, Top Gamechangers 2024
