Our team
Core Team
Founder
Dr Kana Grace
Dr. Kana Grace is an advocate for neurodivergent people, leveraging her own multiply-neurodivergent experiences and research skills to make the world a better place for neurodivergent people and their families.
Currently, Kana is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) at the Institute of Education, University College London (UCL), where she earned her PhD focusing on loneliness among autistic adults. Her research interest lies in the mental and physical health of neurodivergent people. As a researcher, she has been featured in prominent media outlets like the UK’s BBC and The Scientist. Her narrative as a prominent scientist and neurodivergent individual in academia will be featured in the forthcoming book ‘Nine Minds’, narrated by bestselling author and autistic savant Daniel Tammet, alongside with some notable individuals including Hollywood actor Dan Aykroyd.
In addition to her research work, Kana advises SEDSConnective, a UK charity supporting neurodivergence and hypermobility, and is part of the steering group for transdiagnostic research at Autistica, a leading UK autism research charity.
Kana has been a featured speaker at various conferences, symposiums, and webinars worldwide, sharing insights from her dual perspective as a researcher and an individual with lived experience.
Drawing on her positive experiences with Specialist Mentoring during her PhD, Kana has extended her support to neurodivergent individuals across various age groups and countries as a Specialist Mentor.
Fluent in both English and Japanese, Kana bridges cultures in her extensive work. Discover more about Kana at her Linktree: https://linktr.ee/kanagrace.
Co-founder
Hiromi Grace
Hiromi is Kana's mother and has the experience of growing a neurodivergent child. She is a professional make-up artist, esthetician, hair stylist, and yoga instructor. Her work in the beauty industry has often been praised as "God's hand" by many clients from around the country. Her bright and friendly personality attracts many people, and many of her friends rely on her counselor-like character.
MVP (Most Valuable Paws!)
Levi & Léa
Levi [leh-vi] and Léa are here for our and your emotional support!
Advisors
Advisor
Kara Rodano, CCC-SLP
Kara is a Speech-Language Pathologist with her Maryland state license and national Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP). She has been working for 4 years at a special education school. Kara has experience working with autistic students with high support needs. She is passionate about supporting language development, neurodiversity, and self-advocacy skills. Kara attended Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, where she met Kana. In her spare time, Kara enjoys rock climbing, hiking, baking, and writing.
Advisor
Nova Matthias
Nova works as a specialist mentor and study skills tutor supporting undergraduate, postgraduate and research students with autism, ADHD, mental health conditions and SpLDs. She loves working with students from different backgrounds and interests studying a broad range of subjects, from dance to neuroscience. She also works at as an equalities trainer with Equality Focus, advising universities on supporting neurodiverse and disabled students in higher education and increasing the accessibility of their provision. Outside of work she enjoys running (whilst chatting) with her local running club, reading fiction, and trying to make the most of London’s restaurants, theatres and art galleries.
Advisor
Dr Brian Irvine
Brian works at UCL on CRAE's ESRC funded Superior Perceptual Capacity in Autism. He completed his doctoral thesis at ACER, the University of Birmingham’s Autism Centre for Education and Research. There he investigated Specialist (Autism) Mentoring in UK Higher Education. Over the last decade he was a mentor at Royal Holloway, University of London where he had had the pleasure of regular meetings with many brilliant students as they journeyed through their university life. His background is in autism education and – last century – was Head of Philosophy and Religious Education at a secondary modern school. For fun he keeps bees, as it avoids being interrupted for a few hours.