Future Leaders is Australia’s first holistic leadership capacity building program for autistic adults. It was designed to empower autistic adults with leadership potential who want to make a positive impact in their communities.

The first Future Leaders was a small pilot program that allowed 23 autistic adults, aged 18 to 30, to better engage with and participate in the 2013 Asia Pacific Autism Conference (APAC) in Adelaide. In 2016, Autism CRC conducted an evaluation of the 2013 program. After completing the evaluation, Autism CRC started working with leaders in the autism community to develop an expanded program which incorporated a holistic approach to training and development. The revised and expanded program was designed, developed and delivered with autistic adults, to 14 autistic adults in 2018 aged between 25 and 40. Based on evaluation, elements of the program were modified and re-delivered to 15 autistic adults in 2019, with no upper age limit.

Evaluation data indicated that the Future Leaders program was highly successfully, and delivered in line with the program objective – being to empower autistic adults with leadership potential to build and develop their skills.

Download evaluation report

Download executive summary