Prof. Richard Mills
Special Advisor
Richard is a Senior Associate and Adviser to the AT-Autism board. He is a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath; Senior Research Fellow at Bond University, Queensland Australia; Professor, J-CAAR Taisho University, Tokyo, Japan, and Consultant at the Autism Resource Centre Singapore. He is a Research and Practice Associate at Scottish Autism’s Centre for Practice Innovation and since 1994 he has been a consultant to the Inspire Foundation, Malta. From 1990 until 2013 Richard was with the National Autistic Society initially as Director of Services, responsible for early years, schools and adult services and later as Director of Research, a joint appointment with Research Autism. Richard’s interests are in behaviours of concern, forensic aspects of autism, autism in women and girls, programme evaluation and service design. He has authored numerous scientific papers, book chapters and articles on autism and is an editor for the journals Autism, the International Journal of Research and Practice, and Advances in Autism. He was a member of the Guideline Development Groups for the NICE guidance on Autism in Adults and Behaviours that Challenge, and of the Northern Ireland Autism Research Advisory Committee. From 2004 until 2014 Richard was the Autism Adviser to the States of Jersey. He is a Trustee of the John and Lorna Wing Foundation, supporting autism research.
Judith Kerem
Development Director
CareTrade UK Charity
Judith has worked in the field of autism for over 26 years. Judith has previously worked at Treehouse School, (Ambitious about Autism) National Autistic Society and the Autism Education Trust. In 2004 she completed her MA in Lifelong Learning at Birkbeck, which led to successful programmes and projects being developed to support employment for Autistic graduates and job seekers. Judith regularly develops training packages and carries out training and consultancy throughout the UK to a wide range of employers including NHS, Government Departments, Multinational companies, local government, and other charitable organisations. Judith has presented at several conferences both in the UK and Europe.
Hilary Fertig
Head of Operations and Development
Employment Autism Charity
In parallel with a career in IT, Hilary has worked in a variety of roles within the field of autism and additional needs. These include as job coach within the IT industry, and in teaching and learning support roles with both adults and children with additional needs. Hilary has an MA in Autism Studies from the Tizard Centre at Kent University. Her dissertation was based on the lived experience of autistic people in the workplace.
Dr Ian Lceton
Independent consultant
As a HR Director for 25 years, I have considerable experience in all aspects of the employment ‘function’ within organisations, I also have considerable experience of Diversity and Inclusion issues generally. My first degree was Business Studies, from City University in London; and my MBA was awarded by the Open University. I started in consultancy, qualified as an accountant (FCMA) and then had a mid-career switch to HR (FCIPD) and have been a HR Director for the last twenty years across four organisations and industries: Volkswagen Group; Skanska*; Network Rail, and River and Mercantile Group. I have a particular passion for Pensions, and have been a Trustee for four schemes, of which I became Chair of three. During the last four years I have undertaken a research Doctorate (DBA) via Cranfield University. I have always had a passion for Diversity and Inclusion, and my research has focussed on the recruitment and retention of autistic people in the workplace. •Skanska AB is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to Construction Global magazine.
Katie Ralph
Chair fast stream autism spectrum network – Civil Service
Katie is an autistic 2nd year Project Delivery Fast Streamer based in the Civil Service. In her first year Katie co-chaired the Fast Stream Disability Network and after experiencing some challenges with a line manager set up and founded the Fast Stream Autism Spectrum Network (FSASN) to support other Autistic Fast Streamers. FSASN has gone from strength to strength with a fantastic team supporting a monthly cross government newsletter since 2021, and this year has delivered a series of workshops called ‘supporting autistic colleagues’ to over 2,000+ civil servants across 24 government depts/non ministerial dept with overwhelming positive feedback.
Mahlia Amatina
Neurodivergent artist and advocate
After being diagnosed with autism in 2015, Mahlia was inspired to share the unique sensory experiences of life on the autism spectrum through her art. Her visionary work includes vibrant abstract paintings, immersive interactive installations, writing and innovative digital pieces, with themes centring on her personal diagnosis journey, as well as raising understanding and acceptance around neurodiversity. Mahlia’s advocacy work is core to her practice, with autism in the workplace, and the building of neurodiverse-inclusive working environments of a particular interest. She writes regularly for Employment Autism and is a qualified coach and mentor. Mahlia has been awarded Arts Council England (ACE) funding several times, including the ‘Developing your Creative Practice’ fund, and has been featured as one of the Top 50 Influential Neurodiverse Women by Women Beyond the Box.
