Autism Speaks Co-Founder Bob Wright Joins Other Leading Executives And Philanthropists on Clinton Global Initiative Meeting Panel “From CEO to NGO”
Autism Speaks “Commitment to Action” Featured During Global Conference
Autism Speaks “Commitment to Action” Featured During Global Conference
From L to R: Eli Broad, Founder, The Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation Chrystia Freeland, U.S. Managing Editor, The Financial Times, Bob Wright, Co-Founder, Autism Speaks; Senior Advisor, Lee Equity Partners, Ted Turner, Chairman, Turner Enterprises, Inc., Suzanne Wright, Co-founder of Autism Speaks
NEW YORK, N.Y. (September 24, 2009) – Bob Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, participated in the panel “From CEO to NGO” at the Clinton Global Initiative's Fifth Annual Meeting yesterday in New York City. Wright will join Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundation and Ted Turner, chairman of Turner Enterprises, Inc.
Wright, Turner, and Broad explored how their background in the private sector has allowed them to effectively run non-profit organizations and foundations. They also discussed how lessons they have learned in the non-profit world would be useful to those working in the business sector.
“It's an honor to be given the opportunity to talk about the global autism crisis and the urgent need for international collaborative action before this very influential audience,” said Wright. “Autism is a disorder that knows no geographic boundaries, and it demands a global response that is commensurate with the enormous scope of the challenges we are facing.”
Autism Speaks' Commitment to Action, “Global Autism Service Training Program,” was selected to be featured on stage during the Clinton Global Initiative's Fifth Annual Meeting. The commitment, whose objective is to build sustainable training programs for community-based autism services workforce around the world, was selected from a group of many others submitted by participating organizations as “an exemplary approach to addressing a specific global challenge.”
The Global Autism Service Training Program (GASTP) – part of Autism Speaks' Global Autism Public Health Initiative (GAPH) – will bring community-based autism services to millions of individuals with autism and their families worldwide. Early behavioral intervention in children with autism has been shown to result in dramatic gains in cognitive and language ability and serves as the foundation for hope for these children. GASTP will establish these interventions by training community-based providers, including those with little existing expertise or formal education, to screen, diagnose and treat. These interventions are exceptionally cost-effective, generating significant savings in health care costs, future educational interventions and societal returns.
About Autism
Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 150 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The prevalence of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.
About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks funds more than $30 million each year in new autism research, in addition to supporting the Autism Treatment Network, Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, Autism Clinical Trials Network, Autism Tissue Program and a range of other scientific and medical programs. Notable awareness initiatives include the establishment of the annual United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 and an award-winning, multi-year national public service advertising campaign with the Ad Council. Autism Speaks' family services efforts include the Autism Video Glossary, a 100 Day Kit for newly-diagnosed families, a School Community Tool Kit and the distribution of community grants to local service providers. Its government relations department, through its Autism Votes initiative, has played a critical role in securing federal legislation to advance the federal government's response to autism, and has successfully advocated for insurance reform to require insurers to cover medically-necessary autism therapies. Each year, Walk Now for Autism Speaks fundraising events are held in more than 70 cities across the country, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.
About the Co-Founders
Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Bob Wright is Senior Advisor at Lee Equity Partners and served as vice chairman, General Electric, and chief executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal for more than twenty years. He also serves on the board of directors of the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation and RAND Corporation. Suzanne Wright has an extensive history of active involvement in community and philanthropic endeavors, mostly directed toward helping children. She serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations and is also Trustee Emeritus of Sarah Lawrence College, her alma mater. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.
Wright, Turner, and Broad explored how their background in the private sector has allowed them to effectively run non-profit organizations and foundations. They also discussed how lessons they have learned in the non-profit world would be useful to those working in the business sector.
“It's an honor to be given the opportunity to talk about the global autism crisis and the urgent need for international collaborative action before this very influential audience,” said Wright. “Autism is a disorder that knows no geographic boundaries, and it demands a global response that is commensurate with the enormous scope of the challenges we are facing.”
Autism Speaks' Commitment to Action, “Global Autism Service Training Program,” was selected to be featured on stage during the Clinton Global Initiative's Fifth Annual Meeting. The commitment, whose objective is to build sustainable training programs for community-based autism services workforce around the world, was selected from a group of many others submitted by participating organizations as “an exemplary approach to addressing a specific global challenge.”
The Global Autism Service Training Program (GASTP) – part of Autism Speaks' Global Autism Public Health Initiative (GAPH) – will bring community-based autism services to millions of individuals with autism and their families worldwide. Early behavioral intervention in children with autism has been shown to result in dramatic gains in cognitive and language ability and serves as the foundation for hope for these children. GASTP will establish these interventions by training community-based providers, including those with little existing expertise or formal education, to screen, diagnose and treat. These interventions are exceptionally cost-effective, generating significant savings in health care costs, future educational interventions and societal returns.
About Autism
Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 150 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The prevalence of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.
About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks funds more than $30 million each year in new autism research, in addition to supporting the Autism Treatment Network, Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, Autism Clinical Trials Network, Autism Tissue Program and a range of other scientific and medical programs. Notable awareness initiatives include the establishment of the annual United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 and an award-winning, multi-year national public service advertising campaign with the Ad Council. Autism Speaks' family services efforts include the Autism Video Glossary, a 100 Day Kit for newly-diagnosed families, a School Community Tool Kit and the distribution of community grants to local service providers. Its government relations department, through its Autism Votes initiative, has played a critical role in securing federal legislation to advance the federal government's response to autism, and has successfully advocated for insurance reform to require insurers to cover medically-necessary autism therapies. Each year, Walk Now for Autism Speaks fundraising events are held in more than 70 cities across the country, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.
About the Co-Founders
Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Bob Wright is Senior Advisor at Lee Equity Partners and served as vice chairman, General Electric, and chief executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal for more than twenty years. He also serves on the board of directors of the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation and RAND Corporation. Suzanne Wright has an extensive history of active involvement in community and philanthropic endeavors, mostly directed toward helping children. She serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations and is also Trustee Emeritus of Sarah Lawrence College, her alma mater. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.
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