Grace Lordan

Dr Grace Lordan is the Founding Director of The Inclusion Initiative and an Associate Professor in Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics, where she also created the MSc in Behavioural Science. A behavioural economist by background, she leads the £2 million ESRC-funded Diversity and Productivity from Education to Work project and recently co-authored research examining gender bias in peer career advice, published in the Journal of Human Capital. Grace advises global firms in finance and technology, sits on the advisory board for the Women in Finance Charter, and serves on the UK government's BEIS Social Mobility Taskforce. Her sessions equip leaders with evidence-based strategies to embed inclusion into everyday decision-making, unlocking productivity, strengthening culture, and ensuring talent thrives at every level.

Dr Grace Lordan founded The Inclusion Initiative at the London School of Economics to address a problem she saw playing out across boardrooms and HR departments worldwide: organisations spending significant resources on diversity efforts without understanding what actually works. As an Associate Professor in Behavioural Science and trained economist, she set out to build an evidence base that could help leaders move from well-intentioned programmes to measurable cultural and performance change. Her approach combines rigorous academic research with practical application, examining how behavioural biases shape workplace decisions and how small adjustments in systems and leadership can create fairer, more productive environments where underrepresented talent genuinely thrives.

Grace currently leads the £2 million ESRC-funded Diversity and Productivity from Education to Work project, which tracks how inclusion influences organisational success across the full arc of professional life. She created the MSc in Behavioural Science at LSE, training practitioners to apply scientific methods to workplace challenges, and regularly advises global firms in finance and technology on embedding inclusion into decision-making. Her advisory work extends to government policy, having served on the Skills and Productivity Board and currently sitting on the BEIS Social Mobility Taskforce and the advisory board for the Women in Finance Charter. Grace's research has been published in leading academic journals, including her 2026 Journal of Human Capital article examining gender bias in peer career advice, and her insights have shaped thinking in the Financial Times, Fortune, Fast Company, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Harvard Business Review. Most recently, she launched a JP Morgan-supported project focused on effective hiring practices for small and medium-sized organisations, demonstrating her commitment to making evidence-based inclusion accessible to businesses of all scales.

Grace delivers keynotes and workshops that equip leaders with clear, actionable strategies rooted in behavioural science. Whether addressing unconscious bias in high-stakes decisions, designing inclusive team cultures, or navigating multigenerational workforce dynamics, her sessions combine academic rigour with practical tools audiences can implement immediately. Her book, Think Big, Take Small Steps and Build the Future You Want, offers science-backed guidance for building meaningful careers in a rapidly changing world of work. Grace helps organisations see diversity not as a compliance exercise but as a strategic advantage, showing how thoughtful interventions improve retention, unlock productivity, and ensure that talent at every level has the opportunity to contribute and succeed.