From insurance leader to Lord Mayor – Bronek Masojada’s East End mission takes centre stage 

Date: 21 Oct 2026

Karen Jones

Byline: Karen Jones, founder of Citywealth, has more than 20 years’ experience in global private wealth.

Alderman Bronek Masojada has been elected as the 698th Lord Mayor of the City of London – a new chapter for a business leader whose philanthropic work has increasingly focussed on connecting the City’s wealth, expertise and networks with opportunity in East London. 

The incoming Lord Mayor has spent the past five years championing a closer relationship between the City and the communities on its doorstep through the East End Community Foundation (EECF). 

Bronek will formally take office at the Silent Ceremony at Guildhall on 13 November, followed by the Lord Mayor’s Show on 14 November. During his mayoralty, he will act as an international ambassador for the UK’s financial and professional services sector, with a programme focussed on connecting talent and capital with opportunity.  

For EECF, Bronek’s appointment has particular significance. He has served as Chair of EECF since 2021, using his experience and extensive network across the City to help strengthen the relationship between businesses, philanthropists and the grassroots organisations working across Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and the City of London. It is a role that grew out of a problem Bronek experienced first-hand during his 28 years at Hiscox, where he spent 21 years as Group Chief Executive. 

“We gave quite a lot of money to charity, which was incredibly valuable to the organisations we supported,” he explains. “What EECF provides is an additional strategic lens, helping people to understand where their support can have the greatest impact, and providing the navigation and advice to make that happen.” 

That philosophy has become central to his work with EECF. Rather than simply encouraging businesses to give more, Bronek has championed a more strategic approach: connecting companies with local knowledge, identifying where funding can have the greatest impact and creating opportunities for employees to engage directly with the communities they are supporting.  

“Somebody sitting in a glass tower does not know what the most impactful thing is,” he says, “we have the local knowledge, the firms have enthusiasm and cash. We can put the two together and make a real difference”. 

Connecting talent with opportunity 

The connection between Bronek’s work with EECF and his forthcoming mayoralty is particularly clear around social mobility and employment. Through EECF’s Life Chances campaign, businesses, philanthropists and community organisations come together to tackle youth unemployment, digital inequality and pensioner poverty. During Bronek’s tenure, the campaign has raised more than £4.5 million, with EECF reporting significant impact including more than 500 people moving into employment, more than 1,000 gaining qualifications and a further 1,000 gaining work experience. 

One initiative particularly close to Bronek’s heart is EECF’s Youth Employment Support programme, which gives young East Londoners the opportunity to visit City and Canary Wharf businesses, gain work experience and see for themselves what a career in the City might look like. 

“The biggest fear and the biggest disconnect between working in the City or in Canary Wharf is it presents a big unknown to people who don’t know people who work there already,” he says. 

“Even for a day, young people realise that these are normal people who come to work, they have the same challenges and opportunities, and they can imagine themselves sitting there.” 

It is an ambition that Bronek now hopes to take into his mayoralty. The City of London Corporation says his programme will continue the work of successive Lord Mayors in connecting talent and capital with opportunity and Bronek has already spoken of his ambition to use the Mansion House Talent Agenda to connect more local people with opportunities in the City and Canary Wharf: 

“I firmly believe that if you work with a good professional services firm, there’ll be a good job, with good money, with great career prospects, and I think if we have that impact collectively, then I’ll be very proud of my time.” 

A long-standing commitment to social impact 

Bronek’s philanthropic journey is extensive, during his time as Sheriff of the City of London, he supported fundraising for the Sheriffs’ & Recorder’s Fund, which provides practical financial assistance to people leaving prison and their families. For Bronek, the attraction of the Community Foundation is the combination of strategic thinking and individual impact – he recalls visiting Circle Collective, an EECF-supported organisation delivering employment training, and meeting a young woman who told him that before joining the programme she had been isolated at home, but was now building confidence, relationships and a career path. 

“It was that one example which really made me realise that it’s essential to think about strategy, but the impact is positive at an individual level,” he says. “And if you can do that 1,000 times, 5,000 times, 10,000 times, then…” 

That balance between scale and individual lives is one that Bronek sees as common to successful businesses and charities, he says: “Every successful organisation has a sense of purpose, the drive and energy, wanting to make a difference, that’s common between both”. 

The City and community connection 

Bronek’s appointment comes at a significant moment for EECF, which is continuing to bring City businesses together around the social challenges facing East London. The Foundation is bringing together sector leaders in October for a roundtable discussion on the barriers facing East End youngsters and to discuss ways to tackle the significant increase in youth unemployment. 

EECF CEO, Tracey Betts says: 

“The East End is home to global businesses and national headquarters, but many local young people feel the opportunities they present are not designed with them in mind. At EECF, we are uniquely placed, as a place-based funder deeply rooted in the East End. We act as a bridge, connecting community organisations, young people and corporate partners in practical and impactful ways. We’re delighted to have Bronek’s support in this work”. 

For the Foundation, the incoming Lord Mayor’s role presents an opportunity to strengthen a connection that has been at the heart of Bronek’s work for the past five years: demonstrating that the prosperity of the City and the prosperity of its neighbouring communities and residents are not separate ambitions.  

As Bronek puts it: “Our role at EECF is to think ‘what does the community need?’ and then use resources, whether that’s people, whether that’s money, to make a difference.” 

His new role will give that message a much larger platform. 

And for EECF, the ambition remains the same: to bring people together, encourage collaboration and turn the resources and expertise of the City into meaningful opportunities for the people and communities of East London. 

Karen Jones is the founder of Citywealth and a wealth management commentator with more than 20 years’ experience across global private wealth, family offices and succession. Before founding Citywealth in 2005, she held publishing roles at The Times and The Sunday Times, London; Legal Business magazine; and worked on the Asia Pacific Legal 500.

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