2025A year of IMPACT
2025 by the Numbers
1.5 Million+
People Reached
NEXT for AUTISM connected with nearly one and 1/2 million people through its programs, grantees and services, live events, webinars, free tools and resources, and digital outreach.
Grants given
in 2025. To date, NEXT has funded 437 projects at 175 organizations across 39 states and territories.
Organizations
participated in the new NEXT COLLABORATES program. The voices represented by these NEXT for AUTISM grantees strengthen collective learning, identify national trends while spotlighting local innovations that are making a real difference.
DSP Hours in 2025
23,500 DSP hours worked by NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS since inception, 317 DSPs trained in person-centered care.
Mentorship participants
More than 200 participants in the NEXT CONNECTS mentorship program since its inception. Introduced three new e-Learnings and three new free employment resources.
Gillian Leek
CEO
NEXT for AUTISM
Letter from CEO
Thank you to everyone who helped make 2025 a year of meaningful progress and measurable outcomes. Together, we strengthened essential services while also advancing the broader systems that shape opportunity for autistic adults.
Letter from CEO
Thank you to everyone who helped make 2025 a year of meaningful progress and measurable outcomes. Together, we strengthened essential services while also advancing the broader systems that shape opportunity for autistic adults.
This year, NEXT for AUTISM reached more than 1.5 million people across the autism community. As a leading national nonprofit focused on the more than 5.4 million autistic adults in the U.S., we center our work on four pillars that support a well-rounded life: work, home, social connection, and health. By expanding funding, prioritizing autistic-led solutions, and strengthening the service community, NEXT continues to drive impact nationwide.
I invite you to explore our 2025 Year in Review to learn more about this work, including highlights from NEXT CONNECTS, NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS, NEXT COLLABORATES, and our national grants program.
Together, we can continue building a more inclusive future grounded in opportunity, progress, and possibility.
Thank you,
Gillian Leek
CEO
NEXT For AUTISM
Services
Services for the full spectrum of autistic adults are at the foundation of everything we do at NEXT.
Services can range from employment resources and guidance to making sure individuals with greater support needs have the DSP care they deserve.
This year, our team created “What’s NEXT: The Evolving Landscape of Services for Autistic Adults”, a strategic report based on data from 522 autistic-led and community-based organizations nationwide.
Four key themes that emerged from the data are:
We also learned that 97% of you agree that ‘more services are needed’ to help ensure that autistic adults have the opportunities to live rewarding and fulfilling lives (NEXT poll, November 2025). Click here to see the complete findings.
Support
Support is a word that represents a multitude of things
At NEXT, it’s about the many ways we help each other and work together to achieve a common goal—to ensure that all autistic adults have the resources, services, and opportunities to live their best lives.
The support we receive and share with our many partners, grantees, funders, advisory board members, NEXT Gen Board, and board of directors helps us all.
A special highlight of this support is our work with the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Foundation. The Foundation has been instrumental in helping us bring to life our annual in-person panel on autism employment. Our third panel, “Autism Employment: The Rewards of a Neuroinclusive Work Culture,” was held at UCLA on September 25, 2025, to our largest audience to date. Thanks to the support from our moderator Matthew Asner, President and CEO, The Ed Asner Foundation, our panelists, Blake Baxter, Sr. Account Technology Strategist, Microsoft, Kelli Fisher, Social Media Manager, Spectrum Designs, Nikki Leacock, Marketing Event Manager, Funko, and Johanna Murphy, Director of Inclusion, Evolve Consulting. Thanks also to the panel’s grantee collaborators, including The Ed Asner Family Center, ETTA, and Exceptional Minds.
Success
We celebrate all successes, be it achieving a targeted objective or inspiring feedback
Whether it’s helping an individual with a free employment resource, realizing the impact of funding an autistic-led grantee that has changed lives due to the services they provide, or infusing more, and much-needed, DSP work hours in a community program, they are all successes.
One success that we’d like to highlight stems from our growing NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS work-based scholarship initiative. Qualifying university students receive scholarship funds in exchange for working as a Direct Support Professional at a partner community organization. What we’re learning from the students is that their success is measured far beyond the scholarship and their paycheck; it’s in the work and the autistic individuals that they’re connecting with.
Everyone deserves to live a productive and fulfilling life, and anything that helps achieve this is a success.
A year in review
2025 Timeline
January 2025
- NEXT and members of our Advisory Board shared their thoughts on the reauthorization of the Autism CARES Act of 2024.
- Launched our free tools and resources for autistic job seekers, employees, and employers that embrace neuroinclusive hiring.
March 2025
Night of Too Many Stars was held on March 31, 2025, at the Beacon Theatre in New York with host Jon Stewart. This event would not be possible without the generous support of White Castle, NEST New York, Tommy Hilfiger, Supersmile, and 2K Games! Click here for highlights.
April 2025
- Autism Acceptance Month. This April, our message focused on autism employment.
- CEO Gillian Leek and SVP Abigayle Jayroe attended the Autism Science Foundation Day of Learning in New York
- Inaugural NEXT COLLABORATES meeting held in New York, uniting NEXT for AUTISM grantees
May 2025
- For Mental Health Awareness month, NEXT co-founder Harry Slatkin led a star-studded autism awareness campaign. We heard from Harry, Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, Holly Robinson Peete, Kathy Hilton, Tanner Smith, and Dee Hilfiger.
- NEXT for AUTISM presented with New York Life Foundation gift in support of NYL volunteers’ efforts at Night of Too Many Stars.
- NEXT COLLABORATES meeting, virtual
June 2025
- Opened the 2025-26 NEXT for AUTISM grants cycle
- Celebrated the graduation of our first cohort of NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS program participants
- NEXT for AUTISM attended the Project SEARCH Autism Enhancement graduation with The Arc Westchester, The Center for Autism and the Developing Brain (CADB), and NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health.
- NEXT COLLABORATES meeting, New York
July 2025
- NEXT’s Abigayle Jayroe was a special guest on the “Someone You Know” podcast to discuss Direct Support Professionals and caregiver burnout.
- Candace Weaver-Dowds, LMSW, Senior Manager of Strategic Initiatives with NEXT for AUTISM, had her article “Co-Mentorship: A Catalyst for Fighting Stigma and Career Success” published in Autism Spectrum News.
August 2025
- NEXT participated in Neurodiversity Employment Network of Philadelphia’s Activate Inclusive Employment event at Cleanlogic. Abigayle Jayroe presented on "Resources for Inclusive Employment."
September 2025
- NEXT’s Abigayle Jayroe presented with Kevin Davis and Laura Sibbald, MA, CCC-SLP, ASDCS, CYMHS, at the Life Sciences Pennsylvania Culture of Respect lunch and learn!
- NEXT held its third in-person panel on autism employment, in partnership with the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation. “Autism Employment: The Rewards of a Neuroinclusive Work Culture” was held on September 25, 2025, at UCLA.
- Autism Spectrum News published an article by NEXT’s Candace Weaver-Dowds, “Fostering Safety and Stability for Autistic Adults During the Transition from College to Career.”
- NEXT COLLABORATES meeting, Los Angeles, CA
October 2025
- NEXT hosted the “Beyond Words: Listening to Neurodivergent Voices in the Workplace” webinar with co-host, the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation.
- Toured new grantee Pawsibility and Invictus Bakery
- NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS welcomed a new cohort of 33 students
- Visited with FELLOWS in New York and Philadelphia (pictured: NEXT team with FELLOWS working at The Arc Westchester)
November 2025
- Thanks to the L.A.Chargers’ player Denzel Perryman for selecting NEXT for AUTISM as his charity of choice for "My Cause My Cleats".
- NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS achieved a milestone of infusing more than 20,000 DSP hours into the workplace, to support neurodivergent individuals with greater support needs.
- NEXT at College Autism Network (CAN) in Pittsburgh. Here's NEXT's Abigayle Jayroe, MBA, Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations, with NEXT Advisory Board member Steven A. Isaacson, LMSW, Sunflower Life Strategies. Abby and Steven both participated in the "Bridges to Belonging: Mentorship for Autistic and Neurodivergent Talent" panel, along with Amy Tavares, Carnegie Mellon University (moderator), Ernie Dianastasis, The Precisionists, Inc., and Ryan Palm, MS, Mercyhurst University. (photo below)
- NEXT COLLABORATES meeting, Pittsburgh, PA
- Did you catch Ron Funches on "Name that Tune” playing, and winning, on behalf of NEXT for AUTISM?! Thank you, Ron!
December 2025
- Thanks to the Nimoy Knight Foundation for recognizing NEXT board members Robert and Michelle Smigel as part of their “Live Long & Prosper” tribute campaign.
- Shop for a Cause event with Veronica Beard in New York. Special thanks to our event hosts and organizers, Laura Slatkin, Arlene Maidman, Bellanca Smigel Rutter, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Emily Schenck & Ali Slatkin — and to the Veronica Beard-Madison Avenue team for their generosity!
- Partnership with Codebase at UC Berkeley. A team of UC Berkeley students selected NEXT for AUTISM to share their technical expertise and fresh thinking to support our work advancing high-quality training for Direct Support Professionals.
Transforming Services for Autistic Adults
NEXT for AUTISM Fellows
Nearly half a million adults with autism and intellectual disabilities are currently waitlisted for the services they need and deserve due to a national shortage of qualified DSPs.
NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS, the first of its kind employment-based scholarship program for university students, helps build a stronger support system for autistic adults with greater support needs while addressing the ongoing Direct Support Professional hiring crisis.
As part of their Fellows scholarship, each student commits to contributing a minimum of 800 hours of DSP work each year and completing NEXT’s evidence-based curriculum, designed to empower and uplift those they support.
Students infused more than 15,000 DSP hours at community partners in 2025 and have exceeded 23,500 DSP hours since the program launched in 2023.
A key element of the program’s success is founded in NEXT’s partnerships with universities and community organizations. We are currently partnered with ten university partners.
“This scholarship gives me a chance to advance my studies and support neurodivergent adults. Every day, I'm developing skills that will help me in my future career in healthcare."”
Mariza A.
Student and NEXT for AUTISM FELLOWS recipient
NEXT CONNECTS and Workplace Inclusion Resources
NEXT for AUTISM believes that everyone deserves to lead a productive and fulfilling life. For many people, that means the opportunity to work. The challenge is that many employers and work environments are not conducive to neurodiverse individuals, from the hiring process to supporting and retaining employees. Through our NEXT CONNECTS bi-directional mentorship program, free resources for aspiring employees and employers, and our live panel and webinar discussions, we are making meaningful progress.
The “Autism Employment: The Rewards of a Neuroinclusive Work Culture” panel took place on September 25, 2025, at UCLA; the event brought together a neurodiverse panel and audience to engage in meaningful conversations about autism employment and creating neuroinclusive cultures. A special thank you to the team pictured, L-R, Anita Bhatia (Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation), panelist Nikki Leacock (Funko), panelist Johanna Murphy (Evolve Consulting), panelist Kelli Fisher (Spectrum Designs), panelist Blake Baxter (Microsoft), moderator Matt Asner (The Ed Asner Family Center), and Abigayle Jayroe (NEXT). Thanks also to this year's grantee collaborators, including The Ed Asner Family Center, ETTA, and Exceptional Minds.
NEXT for AUTISM Grants
For its 2025-26 grant cycle, NEXT awarded $856,572 to 52 organizations nationwide, including 18 autistic-led projects. The 52 funded projects were selected for their clear, measurable goals; innovative and original approaches to service delivery; commitment to reaching marginalized autistic communities; and plans designed for impact and long-term sustainability.
Social
Work
Home
Health
NEXT received a record 522 grant applications in 2025, representing a 27% increase from 2024. These applications provided critical insights that shaped a new report on the current landscape of adult autism services, which can be viewed here.
Next Collaborates
NEXT COLLABORATES
was created to help ensure the success of our grantees and share their work and ideas with the community.
The NEXT team conducts regular check-ins with funded organizations to ensure they are on track to meet their grant goals. Each session also includes time to brainstorm on what services are working best to support autistic adults, what ideas can be shared for others to benefit from them, and planning for the future.
In 2025, 54 organizations nationwide participated in the COLLABORATES program, and we identified three projects to execute in 2026. Stay tuned!
Partners
We are thankful for the generous partners who help fuel our mission. NEXT would like to recognize the following 2025 partners for their dedication and support.
Special thanks to the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation for their ongoing commitment to advancing neuroinclusion in the workplace and their partnership for the annual panel event, webinars, and resources.
Thanks to Our Team
Executive Leadership
Gillian Leek, Chief Executive Officer
Pamela Cohen, Chief Development Officer
Amy Wallace, Chief Financial Officer
NEXT Team
Abigayle Jayroe, MBA, Senior Vice President, Strategic Operations
Holly Wainwright, Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Kelly Fleming, Senior Director, Development and Events
Leah Spindell, Senior Manager, Development Operations and Grants
Candace Weaver-Dowds, LMSW, Senior Manager, Strategic Adult Initiatives
Patty Newby, Program Manager
Jackie Elliott, Senior Associate, Office Administration
Board of Directors
Laura Slatkin, Co-Founder and Board Chair
Harry Slatkin, Co-Founder
Jen Clark, Ph.D.
Sharon Cunningham
Griffin Newman
Jim Hogan
Tommy Hilfiger
Arlene Maidman
Steven Kantor
Katherine Wehrle Kend
Karen Siff-Exkorn
Hope Geier Smith
Tracey Stewart
Robert Smigel
Jon Stewart
David Schwartzbaum
Michelle Smigel
Bellanca Smigel Rutter
NEXT Gen Board
Jenna Grippo, Board Co-Chair
Jennifer Hilibrand, Board Co-Chair
Victoria Fibig
Kelli Fisher
Ali Goldsmith
Jacquelyn Jablonski
Sydney Kend
Kim Koentjoro
Kayla Lebovits
Erik Rutter
Tania Ryalls
Emily Schenck
Advisory Board
Steven A. Isaacson, LMSW
Amy Gravino
Niranjan Haridass
Nat Lyckowski
Matthew Saunders
Sabra Townsend
Rebecca Turcios
John Barrowman
Dawn Buffington Townsend, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Mari Cerda
Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi, Ed.D., BCBA
Casey Grothus
Russell Lehmann
Johanna Murphy
Anne Roux, MPH, MA
