Creative Spirit Hosts 2026 “Gen Neu” Gala at the New York Stock Exchange, Unveils Workplace Technology Partnership
Pfizer named 2026 Corporate Champion of Neurodiversity; Colgate-Palmolive's Jesma Johnson and Agency Search Kaizen's
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Pfizer named 2026 Corporate Champion of Neurodiversity; Colgate-Palmolive’s Jesma Johnson and Agency Search Kaizen’s Lisa Colantuono honored as Individual Champions
NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / September 16, 2026 / Creative Spirit, the nonprofit dedicated to normalizing neurodiversity in the workplace and creating employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, hosted its 2026 gala on September 10 at the New York Stock Exchange. This year’s event, themed Gen Neu, honored corporate and individual champions of neurodiversity and closed with the announcement of a new partnership to build the first workplace employment technology designed for people with disabilities.
Gen Neu is Creative Spirit’s name for a generation raised on Sesame Street which was promised it could be anything it wanted to be. Co-hosts Robert Stroud, Managing Director at Accenture, and Jatinder Singh, Co-Founder of jslr.ai, told guests that the promise came with “no asterisk, no fine print,” and shouldn’t expire at graduation. Creative Spirit calls the work of keeping that promise part of the “Universal Shift” necessary to build workplaces the way we design doors universally – wide enough for the person who needs it most – so that everyone moves through more easily.
Creative Spirit Co-Founder and Board Chair Laurel Rossi announced a new partnership with Asteroid Technologies to build workplace technology that will fulfill the promise of a workplace for all, not for one kind of disability, but for all of them. She introduced technology partner Mateo Salvatto, who built Asteroid Technologies at age 18 to help people who are deaf or living with ALS, cerebral palsy or autism communicate without barriers. “Hearlo already helps more than 500,000 people with communication disabilities in over 70 countries. Employment was the missing piece, and Creative Spirit was the partner we needed to build it. This partnership is about turning accessibility into something concrete: a job, a paycheck, and dignity,” said Salvatto.
Pfizer was named the 2026 Corporate Champion of Neurodiversity, with the award presented by Donna Murphy, CEO of Havas Health and Creative Networks, who won the same honor last year for Havas’s Neuroverse work. Pfizer’s award was presented by Donna Murphy, CEO of Havas Health and Creative Networks and last year’s Corporate Champion of Neurodiversity honoree, as part of the longstanding tradition of previous recipients welcoming the newest honoree to this group. Pfizer joined a distinguished list of attendees including Accenture, The ADVERTISING Club of New York, AMC Networks, Colgate-Palmolive, Infillion, Nexstar Media Group, Regeneron, SalientMG, Sony Pictures, Voya and, Vurvey Labs.
Two Individual Champions of Neurodiversity were also honored: Jesma Johnson, Senior Director of Global Inclusion at Colgate-Palmolive, recognized for building diversity as “a culture you build, from the inside out” over nearly three decades at the company; and Lisa Colantuono, CEO of Agency Search Kaizen. Joseph Tama, NYSE, Kerry Sette, Voya and Aly Yee presented Menachem Rephun with the Karen Eisenbach Memorial Scholarship.
“The future is neurodiverse, and this next generation of talent will be represented by individuals of all abilities. Companies that move now to certify, train, and shift to universally designed cultures will be the ones who win. We can’t afford to wait. Every day that a company delays, human potential goes unrealized. We need to keep our promise to ensure that our children can become anything they want to be.” said Laurel Rossi, Board Chair and Co-Founder of Creative Spirit.
The stakes are significant. More than 50% of Gen Z identifies as neurodivergent, yet 85% of neurodivergent individuals are under- or unemployed.¹ Within the creative, adtech, media and advertising industries specifically, more than half of the workforce is neurodivergent.² Raising a child with autism or an intellectual disability can cost a family between $1.4 million and $2.4 million over a lifetime, often because a parent is unable to work at all. Creative Spirit’s training, mentorship, certification and recruitment programs have helped thousands of young adults secure employment, with more than 95% retaining that employment through the organization’s ongoing coaching. 100% of funds raised go directly to Creative Spirit’s mission.
About Creative Spirit
Founded in 2017 by leaders across the creative, adtech, media and advertising industries, Creative Spirit accelerates the inclusion of neurodivergent individuals in the workforce through training, mentorship, certification and recruitment. Creative Spirit launched its HIreDifferent Academy in 2024 that allows companies to become a disability-certified organization. Learn more at creativespirit-us.org.
Media Contact: Hella Sisca, Global Communications Manager, Havas Hella.Sisca@havas.com
¹ Deloitte, “Neurodiversity in the Workplace,” Deloitte Insights, https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace.html
² Tech Talent Charter, Diversity in Tech Report 2024, as reported in WeAreTechWomen, “Major new report from the Tech Talent Charter reveals tech employers massively underestimate neurodivergence,” March 2024, https://wearetechwomen.com/major-new-report-from-the-tech-talent-charter-reveals-tech-employers-massively-underestimate-neurodivergence-in-their-workforce/
SOURCE: Creative Spirit
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