The Dandelion Program is an employment and work experience program that builds careers for people on the autism spectrum. Goals of the program:- Assisting individuals to build the necessary skills – technical, life and executive functioning - Focusing on building careers for individuals, not just jobs- Educating the workplace in neurodiversity- Training team leads and managers in leading and managing people with autism

The program uses a two pronged approach:- Assisting individuals to build the necessary skills to enable them to succeed in the workplace - Educating people in the workplace to help them make the necessary changes to support the success of the program.Implementation objectives:- Establish a community- Provide access to open sourced Dandelion Program methodology and tools through Cornell University & La Trobe University – at no cost- Develop a ‘Dandelion Roadmap’ for organizations wanting to participate- Assist in educating and training your human resource / talent management staff- Provide access to university students that participate in the Dandelion work experience program.

The collaboration is focusing on these initial areas:1. Creation of information assets that will help raise awareness of the value of Neurodiversity in the workplace 2. Collaborate in the creation of cross-company common training curriculums to hire and retain autistic people3. Exchange experiences in the areas of sourcing, training, hiring, work experience programs and retaining individuals in the autism spectrum4. Investigate other barriers to employment for autistic people such as industry accreditation courses 5. Participate in information sharing sessions at the World Economic Forum, Davos, UN events and at annual summits for employers, governments and community groups.

Principles of the program:- Empowering individuals to control their work life and build resilience- Supporting teams in focusing on individuals - Working closely with program clients to create and maintain an inclusive environment- Respecting the autism community, including carers- Valuing neurodiversity and leveraging it to add capability.The Dandelion Program will establish a community and work group of like minded leaders and organisation to drive the program forward.

DXC Technology, La Trobe University, Australian Federal Government, Cornell University