What Happens When an Entire Panel Is Neurodivergent Women

Photo provided by an event attendee.

I'm still riding the adrenaline from last night's She Talks Tech panel at Catalyst Commons. 

What made this one special: our entire panel was composed of neurodivergent women. As Wanda K. Deschamps noted, we haven't (only) studied these topics, we're living them, as leaders, researchers, parents, and professionals.

Each panelist brought a distinct lens. Wanda K. Deschamps grounded us in neurodiversity terminology and shared the joy of stepping into her full self through a late-diagnosis autism journey.

Isabella Chawrun reminded us that celebrating strengths can't come at the expense of acknowledging the impact of environments that simply aren't built for us. And we celebrated the importance of neurodivergent researchers like her, who are bringing perspective and nuance to this work. 

Jennifer Seberras, P.Log. shared how she's moved through life with confidence and action, refusing to let others set limits on her. And how ADHD hasn't defined her identity, even if her unique strengths have roots there.

And I shared how my own ADHD diagnosis is adding joy to my life and depth to my work as an ADHD coach. And practical ways that neuroinclusion can improve our teams.

Every time a panelist spoke, a different set of attendees nodded. Because like our panel, the neurodiverse audience in that room is not a monolith. There were a variety of perspectives to find connection with the topic, which is critical for building empathy and paths to action.

Stefanie Bruinsma did a fabulous job of collaborating with the panelists to structure the conversation and keep the energy flowing throughout the evening. Her consideration was neuroinclusion in action.

Thank you to Shriaa Sheth, MBA and the team at Accelerator Centre for proving there's a rich, ready conversation to be had and a community worth platforming. I look forward to being in more rooms and more conversations like this!