In September 2018, Jake’s House gathered 50 Canadian leaders for a three-day summit, the Jake’s House Leadership Network. Our goal was to educate these influential individuals on the current autism landscape, and to work with them to discover effective ways of supporting the 1% of our population that is affected by ASD.

Together as a collaborative group, we discussed the challenges families living with autism face and their effects on society as a whole; the importance of social programming, such as the Legends Mentoring Program and community events; and the areas in which pressing need remains, such as long-term care and housing.

In addition to the Jake’s House executive team, our speakers included Rhiannon Traill, President & CEO of the Economic Club of Canada; John Tory, VP of Corporate Development & Government Relations at Air Georgian; Margaret Spoelstra, Executive Director of Autism Ontario; Joe Vaccaro, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association; and Dr. Melanie Bania, Legends Mentoring Program Evaluator and Principal of Community-Engaged Consulting.

Like these speakers, each of our guests made a unique and meaningful contribution to the Jake’s House Leadership Network, ensuring it was fruitful in a number of ways. At the event, we raised funds to help back the national expansion of the annual Jake’s House Holiday Parties and of the Legends Mentoring Program. We forged new partnerships and identified strategic ways of collaborating across sectors. And we expanded our family of caring, understanding individuals. All to be able to better support more Canadians living with autism.