2025 Keynote Speakers
Temple Grandin
Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. When she was two and a half years old, she had no speech and all the symptoms of severe autism. Early intensive speech therapy enabled her to speak by age four. Her mother always encouraged her interest in art and urged her to draw many different things. Good teachers and mentors were essential for Temple’s success. Her high school science teacher challenged her with interesting projects where she had to figure out how to make things work. When studying in school became a pathway to becoming a scientist, she was motivated to study.
An HBO movie titled Temple Grandin was made about her life and Temple was inducted into The National Women’s Hall of Fame and The Academy of Arts and Sciences. Facilities she has designed handle over half the cattle in the U.S. Some of her most important books are New York Times Bestseller “Animals in Translation,” “Thinking in Pictures,” “The Autistic Brain,” and “The Way I See It.” Riding horses and caring for them helped her get through difficult teenage years when she was bullied and teased.
Cyril Burke
MD; Neurologist – Private Practice
Leanne Burke
Manager for Advanced Practice Providers, Brown University Health Cardiovascular Institute, NP
2025 Presenters
Richard Booth, Ph.D.
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Graduate Degree: Ph.D. Counseling and School Psychology: Northeastern University
Training/Past Experiences: New England Institute of Art Counseling Center, Dimmock Community Health Center Residential and Outpatient Behavioral Health, Judge Baker Children’s Center Fellowship utilizing manualized treatments for childhood anxiety, depression, trauma, and disruptive behaviors
Therapeutic Approach/Clinical Interests: Integrative and evidenced based approaches, examining clients through an ecological perspective. Clinical interests include improving mental health services by increasing representation of marginalized and diverse groups, noting the interplay between person (inner and outer), environments, power structures, societal norms, expectations, and barriers. Context matters
Languages: English and Jamaican Patois
Jeff Cowgill
Vice President, Global Autism @ Work. JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Tiffany Treacy
Vice President of Product – Microsoft
Tiffany Treacy is a Vice President of Product within Customer Success Engineering leading efforts to drive Microsoft 365 Copilot customer growth and success by creating personalized, AI+HI IT experiences. Tiffany emphasizes the importance of culture, focusing on diversity and inclusion, hybrid work best practices, career development, and a Product-Led growth mindset. In her current role, Tiffany is at the forefront of Copilot innovation with emphasis on Microsoft 365 Admin Copilot, Copilot Management for IT, along with personalized insights and recommendations for accelerating Copilot value and extensibility.
Shea Belsky
Tech Lead II at HubSpot • Autistic Self Advocate • Podcast Host
A passionate developer and autistic self-advocate. Shea is a Tech Lead II at HubSpot, working on the Help Desk team! I am the former CTO for Mentra, an employment network for neurodivergent professionals. Shea is a graduate of Cornell University, with a B.S. in Information Science (concentration in User Experience) and minor in Education. Shea also holds a Masters of Professional Studies in Information Science, graduated in December 2018 from Cornell University.
Michael John Carley
Author, Consultant, and Executive Director
Michael is an author, school and business consultant, and former Executive Director in the autism, neurodiversity, mental health, disability, and DEI worlds. He received his B.A. from Hampshire College and his M.F.A. from Columbia University.
Between 2003 and 2013, as the Founder and first Executive Director of the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership (GRASP), at the time was the largest membership organization in the world that’s comprised of adults on the autism spectrum and spoke at over 200 conferences, hospitals, universities, and health care organizations. As the Executive Director of the Asperger Syndrome Training & Employment Partnership (ASTEP, now “Integrate”) from 2011-2014, he spoke at conferences focusing on Human Resources, Corporate Diversity & Inclusion, and he conducted numerous trainings and webinars for individual Fortune 1000 companies. From 2004-2016, he consulted for the New York City Public Schools, and he now works in higher education. He will be speaking at this conference about how to unlearn bias at higher education and in the workplace.
AC Goldberg
Professor, Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences
AC is a physically disabled, neurodivergent, intersex/transgender Professor, DEIB Consultant and Speech/Language Pathologist whose mission is to cultivate affirming spaces for all people. Dr. Goldberg is a Assistant clinical professor at Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health sciences, where he runs a gender-affirming voice clinic and teaches courses in DEI and transgender health. He is a recipient of Northeastern’s Inclusive Impact grant funding for a project on Transgender Health Equity and Belonging. Dr. Goldberg’s consulting work centers around empathy, humanity and intersectional cultural responsiveness. Since beginning his speaking career, AC has delivered nearly 1000 lectures and trainings on affirming practices in spaces like corporations, higher education and healthcare settings. His continuing education nonprofit, The CREDIT Institute, is dedicated to advancing intersectional equity in educational and healthcare settings. He is the 2022 recipient of the American Speech Language Hearing Association’s (ASHA) Outstanding Service Award, the 2023 recipient of Sargent College’s Special Recognition Award and the 2024 recipient of the Influential Leadership in Healthcare Award. Dr. Goldberg currently serves as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion co-chair for the American Speech-Language Hearing Association’s convention planning committee and he is a mentor for voice professionals through the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH).
Bridget Smyser
Teaching Professor, Northeastern University College of Engineering
Bridget earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She is currently working towards a M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration at Northeastern University. Her research interests include the pedagogy of laboratory and design courses, inclusive teaching, and supporting underrepresented students in engineering. Dr. Smyser will be discussing neurodiversity approaches and what is neurodiversity during the conference.