DEI at Work
"There’s an entire portion of people who are excluded … we can all work together to start creating a much more inclusive environment, which will create a much richer society for all of us.”
Anita Bhatia, Executive Director, Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation
An Inclusive Vision
NEXT for AUTISM believes that everyone deserves to lead a productive and fulfilling life. For many people, that means the opportunity to work. However, work environments are not always conducive to neurodiverse individuals, from the hiring process to supporting and retaining employees.
To help facilitate neurodiversity in the workplace, NEXT, with support from the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation, offers practical, impactful, and ready-to-use resources for businesses and job seekers alike ... as well as a platform for sharing ideas and insights to best support neurodiversity and inclusion in the workplace.
BUILDING A NEUROINCLUSIVE WORKPLACE
Join NEXT for AUTISM and the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation for a live panel discussion, "From the Mailroom to the Boardroom: Your Role in Building a Neuroinclusive Workplace", on Thursday, September 12, 2024, at UCLA. The discussion and panelists include leaders from Aramark, Google, Mychal's Learning Place, Rutgers University, SAP, and NEXT for AUTISM.
This is a follow-up to the September 2023 panel discussion, "Removing Barriers to Empower a Neurodiverse Workforce", also held in Los Angeles. The 2023 panel was moderated by NEXT for AUTISM CEO Gillian Leek. The panelists were Patrick Bardsley, Co-founder/CEO, Spectrum Designs, Diane Delaney, Global Diversity & Inclusion Leader, People with Diverse Abilities (PwDA) Community, IBM, Ferose V.R., SVP/Head of SAP Academy for Engineering, SAP, and Jhillika Kumar, CEO/Co-founder, Mentra (pictured above with NEXT co-founder and board chair Laura Slatkin).
Watch the above reel for a quick snapshot of the 2023 panel.
THE OPPORTUNITY
"This is not just DEI, this is also ROI. You are getting bottom line from hiring the world's most diverse thinkers into your organization."
Jhillika Kumar, CEO/Co-founder, Mentra
Resources & Support
How can we best support you as an aspiring professional or your business to be more inclusive? If you don't see the resource you're looking for, please email our team at [email protected].