Inspiring Conversations with Heidi Kershaw of Global Autism Coalition

https://voyageutah.com/?post_type=interview&p=92362

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Kershaw

Hi Heidi , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I think there are moments in life that serve as a culmination of experiences and lessons that came before. That certainly seems like the era I’m in right now. I am the founder and CEO of The Global Autism Coalition, a for-profit/non-profit hybrid organization dedicated to securing the safety, livelihood and success of the global autism population through education and technology. It is a collision of my personal and professional lives coming together in perfect synchrony.

Autism is in my family and I’ve always been around it. My son also has autism and requires maximum resources and services and shines like the brightest star in the sky.

Professionally, after grad school I started my career in communications and then advanced into nonprofit leadership where I quickly learned the value of partnerships, collaborations and coalitions to push the dial and bend new realities.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A smooth road sounds like a boring one that I don’t want to be on. I appreciate an uncomfortable journey because that means I’m learning and growing and refining concepts. It also alludes to introducing something novel to a market, which will often times push back before accepting something new.

The struggles that I’ve hit along the way can be organized in a few different buckets:

1. Engineering original hardware/software components that require a variety of specific industry experts to create
2. Learning the protocols and expectations of the funding world
3..Obtaining funding
4. Discerning sophisticated professionals from the rest

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The Global Autism Coalition (GAC) is dedicated to securing the safety, livelihood and success of the global autistic community through education, destigmatization, and technology.

We originally formed as Square in the Eye in 2019, but as the mission expanded with the help of implementation partners around the world, the organization amended its name in 2023 to the Global Autism Coalition and became fiscally sponsored by a 501c3 fiscally sponsored organization, University Impact (UI), so that we could nimbly and sustainably operate regardless of economic impasses. The fiscal sponsor provides oversight of all nonprofit activities so that donors can feel safe that their funds are being used as directed.

Once the business structure was set, we were able to focus on programs immediately.

Our education and destigmatization efforts are an area that I am particularly fond to share. I mentioned the concept of bending reality – and what I mean by that is to push hard at something until it is universally accepted as reality. In this case, we are pushing de-stigmatization of the diagnosis. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs stated, “on the first human right, the right to dignity, as civilized nations, we are failing to protect the rights of people with autism.” It doesn’t take a hard look at datasets to see where autistic people are truly living in danger because they are so misunderstood. In conversations with people around the world, I learn that the label is recognized but the symptoms are not, resulting in the need for wide-spread localized educational initiatives. To advance this workstream, we meet with autistic people, direct service providers on the ground, parents, caregivers, doctors, clinicians, researchers, governments, and heroes in the field to understand the resources and services available to people within a certain area.

Specifically, we want to learn what the daily experience is like to live in that area, what is working that can be modeled, and where the gaps exist. From there, we write stories and publish them wherever we can to begin normalizing the conversation to the general population. Our material never touches on the geo-political nature of a region – instead we want to take the Doctors Without Borders approach and eclipse commentary on matters of the state to focus on the people themselves.

I am really proud of this particular workstream because I’ve gotten to meet spectacular people. I’ve been able to visit Ukraine, the UAE, Israel, Palestine, Hungary, the United Kingdom and more to dig in and understand service models.

Secondly, it is our position that technology serves as the great global equalizer. GAC’s proprietary technology, Square in the Eye, was designed as a tool that focuses on two of three core deficits in ASD: communication and reciprocal social interaction.

Scientists conducted a study to figure out how the brain responded to making eye contact when accompanied by spoken language. In the published work, “Neural Mechanisms of Eye Contact when Listening to Another Person Talking”, they found through MRI and eye tracking technology that the brain lit up when a listener made eye contact with a speaker. Specifically, the parts of the brain that are inhibited by autism lit up, indicating that activation and enhanced functionality are results of eye gaze.

Our project introduces a novel approach by leveraging animation, eye-tracking, and gaze-contingent digital displays contained within sleek glasses. This allows therapists to foster and measure eye contact in a social environment. Our approach rewards the learner every step of the way.

The United Arab Emirates and the Zayed Higher Organization has been a critical partner in the evolution of this device and it has been such a pleasure to advance it forward with their support.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risk is important to make gains. Obviously you need to establish guardrails early-on that keep you from being depleted – such as committing to always being able to pay rent or the mortgage – but when risk falls within the guardrails, I think it can be a huge lever to obtain robust growth.