I’m Sophie Mason, and I am honoured to be nominated for the Diversity and Inclusion Tech Initiative Award at the Inclusive Awards.
With this nomination, I celebrate not just my own journey, but every person who has breathed life into ThinkEDI and One Support Pass. Every story shared, every barrier named, every moment of courage and feedback has shaped what we’ve built. This isn’t my revolution, it’s ours. A collective inclusion revolution, grounded in dignity, safety, and systems that finally make space for all of us.
The values I lived and lead by are not just principles, they are my compass:
Radical Belonging – because we all deserve to be seen, safe, and celebrated
Rebellious Kindness – because change doesn’t need cruelty
Joyful Disruption – because we can shake the table and still laugh around it
Privacy as Power – because consent matters, always
Collective Truth – because we are braver together
I’ve spent my life rewriting what’s possible, not just for myself, but for anyone who’s ever been told they’re “too complex” to include, “too much” to understand, or “too different” to belong. Inclusion is always possible, and for the sake of independence and justice, we must treat it as non-negotiable.
I live with complex Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, autism, hemiplegic migraine, and neurological disability. On difficult days, I use my wheelchair to navigate paralytic symptoms. On good days, I can stand and speak and walk into rooms to spark change. And every day, no matter what my body is doing, I am driving forward the revolution we need.
As an executive change manager, strategist, and campaigner, I have built platforms and pathways to ensure lived experience is at the centre of every conversation that matters. Over the past few years, I have had the priviledge to:
Deliver trauma-informed inclusion training to NHS bodies, fintech companies, local authorities, and education providers
Create the National Neurodivergence Toolkit
Be a trade union inclusion and diversity representative
Start a women’s choir, creating safe spaces for connection and community
Founded Women’s Aid’s SEEdS project (Survivors Empowering and Educating Services)
Contribute to cross-party groups on violence against women and girls, disabilities and learning disabilities
Consult on the VAWDASV Act and National Training Framework, embedding intersectionality and disability inclusion
Sit on the Women’s Aid National Accreditation Service Standards board
Host the Diversity and Inclusion Awards wales 2025
And I’ve done all this while navigating daily pain, parenting with purpose, and carrying the emotional weight that comes from doing work that is rooted in love, and shaped by real life.
But more than a founder or campaigner, I’m a mum, a mentor, and a human who knows what it’s like to feel out of place in your body, in a meeting, or in a world not built for you. And I’m someone who will always ask, “What are we going to do about it?”, and then roll up my sleeves and help make it happen. Are you with me?
