Mark Freed Joins TheCityUK to Champion Inclusive Workplaces

We were proud to see our co-founder and Managing Director, Mark Freed, join TheCityUK’s Diversity and Inclusion Exchange this week to share insights on building more inclusive and equitable workplaces.

It was a powerful and collaborative session bringing together professionals and leaders across financial and professional services to explore what real progress looks like when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

As TheCityUK shared in their own post:

“We were delighted to welcome Mark Freed, co-founder and Managing Director of Men for Inclusion, an organisation dedicated to engaging men in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, to our Diversity and Inclusion Exchange today.”

Key themes from Mark’s contribution included:

🌍 Inclusion as the key – Inclusion isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s the lever that unlocks the full value of diverse talent.
📉 The Lived Experience Gap – Mark highlighted that many women and underrepresented groups experience a 15–30% poorer workplace experience than men, a systemic issue that must be addressed.
🔑 The ‘ADUCE’ Framework – Mark introduced our ADEUCE framework (Awareness, Desire, Understanding, Capability, Embedding) as a practical guide for embedding inclusion into workplace culture.
🤝 Allyship in action – Mark shared his experience collaborating with initiatives like the Women in Finance Charter and The Diversity Project, showing the real-world impact of cross-sector collaboration.
📜 Engaging with government – He also spoke about giving evidence to the UK Treasury Select Committee for their ‘Sexism in the City’ inquiry, underlining the urgency of structural change.

A huge thank you to TheCityUK and all their members for hosting such an important and energising discussion. We’re always inspired to see organisations driving real momentum in the DEI space—and proud to be part of that journey.