Programmes

Neurodiversity Works

Coaching community and employment campaign for neurodivergent people

Neurodiversity Works: Sustainable Careers

Neurodiversity Works: Sustainable Careers is a practical community and learning space for neurodivergent people building careers that work for them. Members get peer support, live learning sessions, tools and scripts to help them get into work, stay well, ask for adjustments and navigate the moments when things get hard.

How it started

Neurodiversity Works began as an employment resource for neurodivergent people looking for routes into meaningful work. Before the pandemic, it functioned primarily as a campaign and mailing list sharing opportunities from neurodivergent-friendly employers, specialist internships, early-career schemes and jobs programmes — the type of routes that can transform the lives of neurodivergent people who are not well served by standard recruitment processes. As part of the campaign, I spoke with government ministers, neurodiversity charities and companies about what it would take to make work genuinely accessible.

The project grew from my own experience as a neurodivergent person: facing structural barriers when trying to enter work, disclose needs, ask for adjustments, or find environments where I could thrive. Rather than pushing people towards "any job", Neurodiversity Works was always about helping people find work that is sustainable and genuinely suited to how someone thinks and operates.

I have always had the ambition to support people more directly through Neurodiversity Works. After training as a coach, I looked at the options, and chose to build the community on Skool, a platform that allows for free, low-cost and paid membership, so the programme can stay accessible to people at different career stages and with different means. Paid members help subsidise access for those entering employment — keeping the original purpose of the "getting into work" campaign at the centre of the programme.

neurodiversityworks.uk → (opens in new tab)

VisibleStart

27 women employed · 600 trained · 300+ volunteers mobilised

VisibleStart is a returners programme for midlife women, designed to support women aged 45+ back into work across media, creative and PR agencies. At GroupM, I designed, launched and project-managed the programme, which employed 27 women into senior, management and entry-level roles, trained 600 women through a free online course and peer-support community, and brought together over 300 volunteers working across WPP agencies to deliver expert training in digital media.

visiblestart.com → (opens in new tab)

Disability Confident

First advertising agency group to achieve Disability Confident Employer status

Disability Confident is a UK government scheme that helps organisations recruit, retain and develop disabled people, with three levels of accreditation: Committed, Employer and Leader.

At GroupM, I led the work to achieve Disability Confident Employer status — making GroupM the first advertising agency to reach that level. Alongside the accreditation process, I developed training and guidance on reasonable adjustments, manager support, inclusive language and employing neurodivergent and disabled people. The resources were shared across WPP's network of agencies, many of which went on to become Disability Confident Employers themselves, and with clients across the group.

Mental Health Allies

250 trained allies embedded across WPP

Mental Health Allies is a workplace initiative giving employees access to trained colleagues who can listen, offer peer support and signpost to professional help. At GroupM, I led the rollout, working with Mental Health at Work, who trained 250 Mental Health Allies across WPP, and embedding peer support into the group's wider inclusion and employee wellbeing work.