Leeds summit to explore how to create truly inclusive workplaces: Jodie Hill

We have long moved beyond the question “Is inclusion good?” to the far tougher one: “How do we embed it in the DNA of organisations so that it’s resilient and irreversible?”

At Thrive Law, we’ve designed our Summit around exactly that challenge: not simply awareness-raising, but confronting the real intersection of law, lived experience, mental health, neurodiversity and technology.

The agenda spans neuro-inclusion to AI, and includes a dedicated sensory room to ensure accessibility for neurodivergent attendees.

My concern is this: that too many organisations tick boxes and publish glossy statements, but stop short of meaningful, measurable change.

They talk about “diverse pipelines” and “inclusive cultures”, yet fail to interrogate the systems and assumptions that reinforce exclusion.

And when you are someone like me - a lawyer, neurodivergent, with lived experience of anxiety and breakdown - you know that the absence of barrier-removal isn’t just inconvenient; it’s harmful.

At the summit I’m urging leaders to confront three fundamentals:

1. Access = equity + adjustment. Access isn’t “soft perks”. It is structural. It requires process redesign, flexible systems and a willingness to rethink how work has always been done.
2. Technology will decide the next frontier of inclusion. As AI and workplace tech evolve, so will the risks and opportunities. If we don’t build accessibility into innovation at the outset, we will always be chasing the harm rather than preventing it.
3. Leadership must model accountability, not rhetoric. Culture lives or dies in the behaviour of managers. If inclusion remains an HR side-project, it will fail. Leaders must resource it, measure it and reward it.

The stakes are commercial as much as moral.

The employers who drag their feet will lose talent, face reputational risk and lag behind competitors who understand that inclusion is a driver of performance, not a charitable add-on.

So yes - join us at the summit if you can. Network, learn, share stories.

But don’t leave with warm feelings; leave with a to-do list, a timeline and a commitment to act.

Because if we don’t move from optics to operational change, we’ll still be talking about “inclusive futures” years from now while people continue to be excluded.

If you’d like to attend the event, please email us to register your interest by emailing me on [email protected].

We’d love to welcome you.

Jodie Hill is managing partner of Thrive Law.