Mentra

Mentra is excited to sponsor an incredible event by Nova Chief of Staff: Neurodivergence in the C-Suite! 💡 Neurodivergent people are no less capable of succeeding in the c-suite than anyone else. Jessica McBride, Eliana Bravos, and Sydney Elaine Butler are superb leaders in their enterprises, paving the way for others to create inclusive environments in their own workplaces! 🧠 We'll learn about how to create equitable spaces for neurodivergent employees, how to empower neurodivergents to become leaders through growth and mentorship, and intersectionality with neurodiversity and other areas! 📅 Happening on Thursday, August 15 at 11 AM Central Daylight Time. ⏩  Register: https://lu.ma/63mo28ik

This week I was bumped off a flight from the West Coast — I’d never seen airport staff that busy trying to redirect tickets. The problem stemmed from CrowdStrike pushing through a flawed software update that clashed with Microsoft Windows, causing a global IT outage and significant disruptions across various sectors. Planes were impacted. Hospitals were impacted. Lives were impacted. Imagine if that was a real cyber breach. This incident brought to life the enormity of the problem – many were stuck in a standstill. At Mentra, we believe in the unique strengths of neurodivergent individuals to solve these complex problems. We are committed to hiring #neurodivergents in cybersecurity and bringing brilliant minds to work. We are doubling down on this focus in an area that requires immediate action. Neurodivergents – your talents are needed more than ever. Join us at Mentra, and let's build a safer world together. 🌍 #Cybersecurity #Neurodiversity #TechOutage #hiring

The Disability:IN conference this year has been eye-opening. Walking around seeing people from the deaf community with access to #ASL interpreters, people who are #blind with volunteers to help navigate, people who are #neurodivergent with access to sensory friendly rooms, and people with #cerebralpalsy who can enter all spaces with wheelchair-accessible ramps. Why don’t we see this equal representation of humanity everywhere we go? This IS the future. It made me realize how much we need more spaces that don’t exclude large parts of the population. Instead of staying at home or in isolation, people with #disabilities #PWD can come out, connect, and be empowered in the workforce to make change. ✊🏽 Specifically I want to share memorable encounter I had yesterday: After the last talk of the day, Jessye and I were figuring out what to do next. Claudia L. Gordon, Esq. passed by us and saw the look of confusion on our faces. She had no idea who we were, and was nice enough to ask us a few questions and said, "Come join us!" She and her team at T-Mobile made us feel included, and shared that Claudia was the first female deaf lawyer working at the White House. As we sat down around the table, there were three sign language interpreters (#ASL), and we had the best conversations, and connected in a deep and powerful way. Until that evening, I had never thought about how hard it is to make a phone call as someone who is deaf or hard of hearing. It’s amazing to see how T-Mobile is building services to allow for captioning and live ASL on calls. That’s what happens when you bring brilliant minds together and into leadership positions… just like Microsoft’s CAO Jenny Lay-Flurrie. With all the advancements being made, we have no excuse to remain unaware of the unique composition of the human population. It’s time to bridge that divide. #Technology is that bridge. #NoMoreExcuses

This is revolutionizing the job market for neurodivergent individuals 👇 Jhillika Kumar founded Mentra, an employment network dedicated to matching neurodivergent individuals with employers. With around 44,000 neurodivergent job seekers on their platform and an investment from OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, Mentra is transforming the workforce. Tune in to hear Jhillika’s insights on building a neuro-inclusive workplace and advice for hiring managers and young entrepreneurs. 🌟✨ https://lnkd.in/gS-3GFpK

Did you know that one in every seven individuals are neurodivergent? In our latest episode of B The Way Forward, Brenda Darden Wilkerson sits down with Jhillika Kumar, Mentra CEO and founder who is creating inclusive job opportunities for neurodivergent individuals. In this episode, you'll learn about: 🚀 Connecting neurodivergent individuals with inclusive job opportunities 🧩 The importance of recognizing diverse life experiences & identities in hiring 💡 Advice for building an inclusive and impactful business Celebrate Disability Pride Month with us by tuning in today! 🎧 https://lnkd.in/gMJd3gGZ #Neurodivergent #Diversity

It’s easy not to have boundaries between work and personal life. I started to feel the effects of burnout working 10+ hour days for the last 5 years, and fighting battles on all fronts every day. Sometimes you don’t realize till it’s too late that if you had opened up sooner, things might have been better — instead of hiding behind a mask, and watching as your true self get swept under a rug. 🧹 It wasn’t until I fully opened up that I got the support I needed to make it through the rocky waters (So grateful for each and every one of the mentors and support system that helped me through 🙏) 3 #lessons I took away from my time recovering from #burnout: 🔥 If you’re burnt out, you’re likely not taking care of our emotions which probably means you won’t make the best most strategic decisions at work. Don’t make decisions from this place – rest, recharge, and then react. 🔥 If your cup is not full, you can’t overflow and give to others. That means you likely can’t contribute your best ideas or support your team if you aren’t supporting yourself 🔥 While it might seem soft at face value, there is power that emerges from being vulnerable. Opening up encourages good people to help you.. they get it, it’s not easy. The more we #mask, the less energy we can have to be productive, our candle grows dimmer. 🕯️ What do you need to do to stop looking the part and to actually BE the part?

Who's going to Disability:IN next week? So excited to be there IRL with my awesome teammates Jessye Lavine and Shea Belsky to meet leaders paving the way to learn about innovative hiring strategies rooted in #neurotype and #skillsbased models. It was such an honor to attend last year and meet Jenny Lay-Flurrie and Jill Houghton building #accessibility into the DNA of #CorporateAmerica. Here's to closing disability divide 🤝 and redefining the #futureofwork.

So, we’ve been heads down building at Mentra 🙇… excited to share what we’ve been up to 🥁 Introducing Mentra’s new Candidate Dashboard 🎉 Think about it like Netflix, except you’re searching for jobs by categories best suited to a neurodivergent’s needs. Candidates and employers alike can now experience a whole new level of connection. 🤝 #JobSeekers, this is your chance to sign up and get access to a dashboard of jobs tailored just for you. #Companies, get your companies spotlighted and discover incredible talent that’s ready to join your team. 🧠 With the #FutureofWork evolving everyday, here’s to adapting our workplaces to the needs of unique neurotypes. 🚀 #Neurodiversity #TechTalent #Cybersecurity #InnovativeHiring #TalentAquisition #recruiting

Have you ever wondered how to discuss your neurodiversity in the workplace openly?👀🧠 Shea Belsky #empowerment #leadership #talentinnovation #careerdevelopment #careereducation #career #careeradvice #growthmindset

Are your AI-based systems accessible or are you leaving behind around 1.3 billion users? Kartik Sawhney and I developed a course to help you make your business more accessible and ensure you are not leaving users and $ behind. Check out https://lnkd.in/er6Ez9eq to find out how you can apply a innovation framework and how to make your products more accessible. Special shout-outs to Ed Essey and to the folks at Garage who shared the innovation framework we are presenting in this course; and to Jhillika Kumar and Conner R. from Mentra who allowed us to share their innovation journey. Alt text: video preview is a split screen view of Kartik and Ioana. #GenerativeAI #LLMs #AI #Accessibility #AIandAccessibility #FoundationModels #Innovation #AIInnovation