Advancing neurodiversity in the workforce

Wells Fargo and UConn’s Center for Neurodiversity & Employment Innovation provides workshops for companies on how to design and build a neurodiversity employment initiative.

Sherrell McMillan,

Staff Writer

In the nearly six years since Wells Fargo launched its Neurodiversity Program — designed to facilitate a more considerate, accommodating, skills-based hiring model that is accessible by design — 360 people have accepted full-time offers of employment at Wells Fargo through the program.

In 2024, the work to create opportunities for neurodiverse individuals through accessible and modernized sourcing and selection processes took a leap forward.

What is neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity describes the range of differences in individual brain functions and behavioral traits, including sociability, learning, attention, and other mental functions. This includes people with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Tourette syndrome, among others — a population that historically has been underserved in the job market.

That’s when Wells Fargo announced it was a part of a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the University of Connecticut Center for Neurodiversity & Employment Innovation to significantly improve career outcomes for neurodivergent individuals.

Part of a $3.75 million grant from Wells Fargo to UConn’s Center, the collaboration is funding full-day educational workshops for companies on how to design and build a neurodiversity employment initiative. The workshops, provided at no cost to companies, “remove cost as a potential barrier for companies that want to provide supportive career opportunities for neurodivergent people,” said Judy Reilly, director of UConn’s Center for Neurodiversity and Employment Innovation.

“This partnership enables us to blend academic instructional design and research excellence with real-world industry application and expertise to create solutions for corporate America.”

With an initial focus on Fortune 100 companies and individuals who seek professional, full-time employment, the work centers around innovative employer education and better connection between neurodivergent job seekers and companies.

Nine of Wells Fargo’s business divisions have hired Neurodiversity Program participants into 21 unique job profiles. And of the nearly 360 people from the program who became full-time Wells Fargo employees, 90% are still with the company. Over the life of the program, program hires have been awarded a total of 42 promotions.

“This program has developed into a firm-wide ecosystem that prioritizes inclusive hiring, onboarding, employee enablement, and improved manager efficacy that is driving a cultural transformation at the company,” said Stephen DeStefani, Enterprise Neurodiversity Program Executive at Wells Fargo. “The initiative continues to succeed beyond my expectations.”