Founder’s Story.

Lived Experience Leadership

Hi, I’m Lara.

I am the Founder and Interim Executive Director of Neurodiversity Change Foundation. I bring 25 years of professional experience in health system change, community engagement, patient advocacy, implementation, and systems transformation, supported by two degrees: a Master of Education in Adult Education and Community Development and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Like many neurodivergent adults, I experienced repeated employment disruption driven not by lack of capability, but by bias, inaccessible environments, and unspoken expectations.

I founded NCF because I kept seeing the same pattern across systems: a lack of implementation.

I was denied access to primary care because my needs were viewed as too complex. That meant I went a long time without the support I needed.

I lost more than one job in connection with my neurodivergent traits and neuroinclusion advocacy. That meant instability, stress, and lost opportunity.

I had leadership qualities I had no viable way of demonstrating without pretending to be someone else. That meant I was excluded from opportunities I could have excelled in.

What I experienced personally, I could also see systemically.

So I created NCF.

NCF was established to respond to the well-documented systemic risks faced by neurodivergent adults and to show how exclusion operates in high-stakes systems, with direct consequences for safety, access, employment, health, and outcomes.

Across clinical and organizational settings, I have worked closely with neurodivergent patients and staff who were frequently labeled “difficult,” “non-compliant,” or “complex,” when the real barriers were often inaccessible systems rather than individual behaviour.

These experiences led me to a core conclusion: sustainable systems change requires neurodivergent leadership embedded in design, implementation, and accountability — not consultation alone.

I became the first openly autistic and ADHD professional in one workplace to speak publicly about workplace inclusion and neurodivergent safety. That experience, and everything that followed, led me here.

I knew I could make change, support others to make change, and help build something with real impact.

Organizational Purpose and Approach

Neurodiversity Change Foundation was created to address structural inequities affecting neurodivergent adults across healthcare, employment, mental health, justice, leadership, and media systems.

NCF advances practical, evidence-informed, and rights-based solutions aligned with disability justice, neurodiversity, and human rights frameworks, including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Our work moves beyond awareness-raising. We focus on implementation, institutional accountability, and measurable systems improvement.

NCF programs support organizations to reduce preventable harm, improve access and safety, and embed neurodivergent-informed practices into policy, training, service delivery, and organizational culture.

Rather than placing the burden of adaptation on neurodivergent people, NCF partners with institutions to change how systems operate.

A core principle of our work is the ethical stewardship of neurodivergent knowledge. Lived experience must be integrated responsibly, with governance integrity, appropriate recognition, and meaningful accountability.

Why This Work Matters

NCF exists because systems do not change without deliberate intervention.

Change happens when those most affected by systemic failures are empowered to lead. It happens when institutions commit to accountability. It happens when solutions are grounded in rigorous evidence, lived expertise, and practical implementation.

NCF is guided by a clear mandate: to advance systems that are safer, more equitable, and more effective for neurodivergent adults.

We are honoured and excited to do this work with you.