After pouring his heart and soul (and money) into the NeuroX Conference — which will take place Tuesday at the Heldrich Hotel and Conference Center in New Brunswick – Drew Peloso has learned the most important lesson about the event business: You can’t do it alone.
That’s why Peloso is so grateful to so many who have supported this inaugural event – one aimed at bringing more understanding of how neurodiverse individuals can help companies improve their bottom line and company culture at the same time.
There’s Jose Valesco, of the Autism Society of America — and formerly of SAP.
“He developed Autism@Work which was for some time the gold standard for neurodiversity hiring,” Peloso said.
There’s Aimee Sprung, Microsoft’s point person on the NJ AI Task Force.
“She was our first sponsor and has been a huge support throughout,” he said. “She’s been our champion.”
There’s Lauren MacCauliffe of 7Magnolia.
“She’s an extremely talented neurodivergent designer who brought the project to live visually and brought the neurodivergent point of view to everything we’ve done, which was critical,” he said.
Peloso to points to statewide leaders such as Mike Renna of South Jersey Industries (a sponsor who helped catalyze other businesses in New Jersey just through his belief in the cause, Peloso said) and Tim Sullivan of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
“Tim is one of a number of incredible leaders in New Jersey who get the value of neurodiversity as it relates to business and innovation as well as relating and caring deeply on a human, personal level,” he said. “I don’t think this could be done in more than a small handful of states. That type of leadership is what sets us apart.”
The conference aims to bring together all the key stakeholders — higher education, business, government and philanthropy — to discuss why neurodiverse hiring is important, how it will impact your company (more good ways than you can imagine) and how AI changes everything about the process.
Peloso is hoping to make NeuroX a must-attend event for anyone in the talent acquisition space – or anyone eager to expand the inclusiveness of their organization. He’s hoping to have events throughout the year that educate businesses on the benefits (yes, benefits) of adding neurodiverse workers.
It all starts Tuesday. (For more information or to register, click here.)
The event will feature a number of thought-leaders and panels, including:
- Thinking differently: Key to New Jersey’s Innovation Revolution Fireside chat on the importance of work for New Jersey’s vast neurodivergent community, how the state is leading in AI and how these two elements come together.
- Case Study: In Search of Extraordinary Talent, What One Company Learned An up-close and intimate fireside chat pulls back the curtain on the neurodiversity hiring journey for a major corporation.
- State aid: How New Jersey’s Departments of Labor & Workforce Development and Higher Education are working together to upskill neurodivergent talent and get businesses the resources they need to ramp up neurodiversity hiring.
(For the complete agenda, click here). The conference will serve as the kickoff event for the NeuroX Network, which was created with the mission to increase employment opportunities for neurodivergent individuals.
For more information on the NeuroX Network, email info@neuroxnj.com.
For more insights on why all this works for your company, come to the Heldrich on Tuesday.
