The Sun Still Shines – thoughts on the MRS Equality Summit 2025

It is undoubtedly the case that the last year or so has been difficult for EDI in all its forms.  The political landscape has changed, and both memories and allegiances have proven to be very short-term at times. However, the sun is a rather irrepressible entity. For every one of those organisations that have stripped themselves of their previously valorised EDI initiatives, there are now a raft of businesses, driven by the desire of their shareholders, that are now openly re-stating their commitment. Moreover, these businesses are often promising to do more and to do more better.

And so, we had the MRS Equality Summit 2025, held just a long jump away from the famous Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.  A fitting location for a conference seeking greater justice for everyone.  What a day it was: sunshine everywhere in the room.  It is at times like this that you realise just how brilliant people can be.  The research and insights sector is very fortunate to have so many people who care so very deeply about…..other human beings.

The day started with Jane Frost MBE, CEO of the MRS, telling the audience that “people are not bored with EDI” and that we need to evolve our language and the way we show up in order to be more inclusive.  I couldn’t agree more.  Jane was followed by Josephine Hansom, Chair of the MRS EDI Council, who deplored the division that was being sewn currently and who reminded the audience of key metrics that demonstrated, beyond any doubt, why EDI matters to business performance.

The list of speakers was impressive. Two sessions stood out for me. First, there was the panel chaired by Daniel Singham, comprised of the inspirational Dr Kenny Imafidon and Jerryanne Hagan-Tetteh, both of Clearview Research and Ghino Parker representing SEEN, Barnardo’s.  They walked the audience through work that had been done with young Black people around the role that haircare and skincare plays in their lives, and how premium pricing for specialist products was creating further social divides.  They talked about engaging with young people, who themselves came up with the idea of creating love letters to their skin and hair.  These love letters were then ‘performed’ to an audience of both peers and professionals.  Wonderful.

My second ‘fave’ was the talk given by Christine Hemphill on AI and disability.  I have attended many presentations on AI - and read many more.  Christine’s was the first I have come across to talk about AI in the context of disability.  For those who don’t know Christine, she is a passionate, devoted and supremely intelligent advocate for equality and justice.  Her company, Open Inclusion, works tirelessly to put disabled people back on the radar of innovation and design. As always, she raised vitally important points with warmth and a deep humanity. Thank you Christine!

I should mention the session I chaired before closing this piece.  It was a potentially difficult slot as we were last on the programme.  The reality is that it helped bring the day to a wonderful close, with energy, provocations and real belief bubbling over throughout.  Isabella Pereira, of The Young Foundation, informed us about the challenges non-white professionals still face in their working lives.  She talked about the need for reframing EDI and discussed how we could move forward with hope. Katherine Billingham-Mohamed and Amanda Woodley of Ipsos talked us through their week of EDI activity, championed by the CEO and leadership team. Robyn Drysdale of Ninth Seat outlined the ‘me videos’ her business has created, where colleagues share their diversity and the role that these play in their everyday lives.  Robyn talked about how this process had created a culture of openness and empathy.  Our final speakers we Clare Woodward and Suzanne Martin, both from BT.  In a similar vein to Robyn, they talked about the importance of personal stories for bringing insight teams together and building foundations based on mutual understanding and respect.  A big thank you to you all.

I was left feeling both positive and enriched.  We undoubtedly live in troubling times, but there are still lots of good people making a difference.  There is still hope in abundance.  EDI still matters.  It has to because, if we really do believe it has no role to play in our lives, then we may as well pull the sun from the sky.