Barry is an award-winning Inclusion and Diversity leader with a background in social and criminal justice. He brings extensive experience from his time as Head of Inclusion & Diversity at British Transport Police and is committed to amplifying underrepresented voices. He is a passionate advocate for a kinder, fairer and more inclusive world for all.

Briony has worked with The Donaldson Trust since 2018, sharing insights through projects and blogs about her lived experience of ASD. With a love of literature and people, she’s passionate about storytelling and continues to work toward her goal of studying English at university.

Alice is a young academic and teacher with lived experience of navigating neurodivergence in education. As a member of Les Jaseuses, a French interdisciplinary network for young feminist researchers, and admin member of the Narratives of Neurodiversity Network, Alice brings valuable insight into inclusive learning environments across cultural contexts.

Dr Monique Botha is a Community Psychologist based at the University of Stirling. Their research places a focus on social psychology, equality, and mental health for the autistic community, exploring how community may act as a resilience resource for autistic individuals facing stigma and discrimination. Alongside their research, Monique also provides consultancy to organisations on disability, diversity and autism.

Ruth is an autistic trainer/facilitator, speaker and researcher, with over twenty years’ experience in education. She is the Head of Training and Co-production at AT-Autism, where she most recently Co-directed the groundbreaking National Autism Trainer Programme, and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton. A teacher by profession, her research interest lies in the education of autistic children and young people, particularly the female experience, and more widely in autistic mental health and wellbeing. She advocates for participatory research and creative methods that centre autistic voices.

Inika is a neurodivergent Anthropology PhD student at Stanford University. She is particularly interested in cross-cultural education, children’s perspectives, medical anthropology, and specifically neurodivergent forms of community and care. Inika brings fresh thinking on inclusion across different sociocultural settings.

Grace was formerly supported by our Vibe service at The Donaldson Trust. Now studying Psychology and Sociology at the University of Stirling, she is a passionate advocate for neurodiversity and uses her blog to share her lived experience as a young, autistic woman. She is also a member of the Scottish Disability Sport Young Person’s Panel, promoting inclusion for women, girls and neurodivergent people in sport.

Ashleigh has attended Gate for almost three years — a place where they say they are “feel free to be themselves and develop new skills”. In their spare time, they enjoy rock climbing, open water swimming, and previously even assisted with flying trapeze at a circus. Passionate about neurodiversity, they joined the Advisory Board to help ensure that the voices of people in services are included when important decisions are made.