Through our conversations after my diagnosis, we found the Autism at Work program. My diagnosis simply gave us more language and tools to help us navigate our lives together.Īnd I'm happy to share that we've been married now for almost three years and expecting a daughter, Zofia Rose, in May. And she encouraged me further to talk to my doctor, which ultimately led to my diagnosis. While my wife and I were dating, we had a conversation one night about the possibility of me being on the autism spectrum. And it became more apparent as I got older that my brain just simply assessed information and situations differently than others. Growing up, I struggled with social cues and understanding facial expressions. Yeah, Christina, I was diagnosed with autism at age 25. How did a program like Autism at Work help make that career change? And you made the complete career shift from social work to the work you're doing today at JPMorgan Chase. And Jesse, you were diagnosed with autism at age 25. So that speaks volume to the breadth of talent that we're bringing in.Ībsolutely. Some of the job roles that we have, folks on the spectrum are outperforming 90% to 140% of their peers and colleagues. We've gone from four folks in the program in 2015 to over 225 today, in nine countries, in 40 different job roles. And so we decided to bring that here to JPMorgan Chase. So what happened was we understood that folks on the spectrum were knocking it out of the park in other companies and corporations. And at that time, we just didn't have enough of the talent in the IT space. We were looking for a different type of talent. So when we started this program, it was out of business necessity. Why is a program like Autism at Work so critical? And how has the program influenced productivity and inclusivity at the firm? Thank you both for being here today.Īnthony, let's start with you. With us today is the Global Head of Autism at Work, Anthony Pacilio, and JPMorgan Chase's software and performance engineer Jesse Collins. It's Autism Inclusion Month at the firm, and we're taking a look at the critical and important contributions of people who are neurodiverse. JPMorgan Chase's culture is shifting when it comes to inclusivity, hiring practices and acceptance of people who think differently.

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