Aspiritech

07/25/2025

Aspiritech staff and members of the Stepping Up and Out (SUO) social club were grateful to enjoy their annual summer picnic in Evanston's Lovelace Park last weekend. Even with the rain that came through during most of the picnic, we still enjoyed some great food from Josh's Hot Dogs and Kona Shave Ice truck while gathering under the park's covered picnic area. ☔ 🍔 🌭🍟🍧

Josh's Hot Dogs
Kona Ice
Evanston Parks & Recreation

07/23/2025

Aspiritech Advisory Board Profile: Johanna Fine
Chief Human Resources Officer, Oakton College

Johanna Fine, CHRO at Oakton College, is a strategic Human Resources leader who partners with Senior Leadership and Management to help Oakton achieve its goals of providing accessible and affordable education to its community.

Fine brings a wealth of diverse experience, most recently having served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for JCC Chicago and as an HR Consultant for the Carolyn Brand Group. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications from Indiana University and several post-baccalaureate certificates, including in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She and her wife live in the Chicagoland area and have three daughters in college.

Check out our entire advisory board here:
https://hubs.li/Q03xvggf0

07/22/2025

Is your website built for the right audience?

If your ideal customers aren’t engaging with your website, you might be reaching the wrong people, or your site might not be optimized to drive the conversions you're aiming for.

On our blog, we walk you through common website mistakes and how to fix them, including aligning your site’s message, structure, and user experience with your real audience's needs.

Start here: https://hubs.li/Q03wJ25x0

07/18/2025

What does financial planning look like when it’s designed for mission-driven teams and built with accessibility in mind?

Aspiritech CEO Tara May sat down with Abacum Co-Founder and CEO Julio Martínez to talk about how their platform has helped us:

💸 Move from reactive budgeting to proactive growth
🔭 Visualize impact across departments and across lives
🏗️ Build accessible dashboards that work for all kinds of thinkers

Abacum has gone beyond improving our financial planning to change how we measure our nonprofit’s impact on the neurodivergent lives we serve.

Watch the full conversation here: https://aspiritech.org/featured/planning-with-purpose-how-abacum-supports-aspiritechs-mission/

07/17/2025

Your mission deserves more than last-minute deliverables.

When lean teams juggle everything from fundraising to impact reporting, some of the most important aspects of marketing often slip through the cracks.

The result: inconsistent messaging, inaccessible visuals, and content that doesn’t connect with the audience you need.

Aspiritech now offers creative services to support mission-driven organizations with a full array of marketing strategy solutions that are accessible, intentional, and perfectly on-brand.

Put your story in the hands of a keenly innovative, neurodivergent, and professional team that will treat it with the respect and care it really deserves.

Start here: https://hubs.li/Q03xMsFp0

07/14/2025

Crain's Chicago Business has highlighted how Chicago-based organizations are showing the world how to go beyond the minimum standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. 🙌

Real accessibility isn’t about checking boxes to demonstrate compliance. It’s reimagining how systems can empower every human to thrive, regardless of ability.

Read about how Aspiritech and our fellow inclusion leaders are driving meaningful change: https://hubs.li/Q03x8WqX0

As the ADA turns 35, Chicago architects, designers and officials are working to expand access and inclusion well beyond what the law requires.

07/11/2025

Aspiritech would like to thank Ravinia Festival for having the Aspiritech Stepping Up and Out (SUO) program at the Weird Al concert last month! We were thankful to enjoy the concert before the rain and storms sadly washed us out. 🌧️

For those outside the Chicago area, Ravinia is a nonprofit, open air concert venue in the northern suburbs featuring a wide variety of music. The majority of the seats are on a designated lawn area. People bring their own picnics or buy food at the venue and enjoy the live music in a shared outdoor atmosphere. There are also covered pavilion seats available for purchase.

For more info on Ravinia, check out their website at
https://hubs.li/Q03wsTTj0

(photos courtesy of Katie Levin)

07/10/2025

The next Specialisterne Academy program is gearing up for fall! We are proud to team up with Specialisterne USA to provide another academy experience for neurodivergent adults interested in Tech and STEM careers! 💻

The next cohort of the Specialisterne Academy will be launching in September 🚀

The fully online, 8-week program prepares autistic learners for careers in IT by combining self-directed e-learning through with real time instructor-led programming from our Aspiritech partners!

What technical skills will you learn?
⚙️ Agile Methodology
⚙️ IT Fundamentals
⚙️ Hardware for desktops and mobile devices
⚙️ Network setup
⚙️ Software
⚙️ Operating systems
⚙️ Cloud computing
⚙️ IT Security
⚙️ Troubleshooting

Participants also build key workplace skills that support success in entry-level roles and create a portfolio of work to demonstrate your skills!

To learn more and apply, please visit: https://us.specialisterne.com/academy/

07/09/2025

If your website isn’t bringing in leads, growing your audience, or supporting your business goals, it’s not doing its job. The good news is that many website problems are easier to fix than you might think. 💻📱

In our latest blog post, we break down the most common reasons websites fall short and share practical ways to turn things around. From clarifying your goals to improving usability and keeping your content fresh, a few simple adjustments can help your website attract and convert the right audience.

Read more: https://hubs.li/Q03vD2Kg0

07/08/2025

Aspiritech Advisory Board Profile: Ian Westbrook

Senior Designer, CME Group
Neurodiversity Advocate

“Graduated Purdue University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communication Design with a minor in Anthropology. I’ve always been curious about humanity in macro and micro scale and why we think and act the way that we do. I always struggled as a student and socially, but after some painful lessons found a solid stance. Turns out all of that experience was common for people with undiagnosed ADHD. I got diagnosed, now medicated, and it’s made my life so much more hopeful! In my design work, I am most curious about how to leverage natural human visual processing (a powerful and subconscious engine in the brain) to make information more intuitively accessible and discoverable. Having ADHD has made this crucial to understand and given me a powerful motivation to solve this problem in my work, as I struggle knowing where to direct my attention sometimes. Design is a powerful force for accessibility. Being curious about the many different kinds of brains out there has made my work stronger and connected me to countless wonderful people, who have all changed my life for the best!”

Check out our entire advisory board here:
https://hubs.li/Q03vDX0g0

07/07/2025

Our Aspiritech Stepping Up and Out (SUO) social program had a Pride Party in our Evanston office last month. We had a great time celebrating LGBTQIA+ pride and Neurodiversity! 🏳️‍🌈

We want to thank our SUO coordinator Alex Dudasik for planning and coordinating all of our events! All of our in-person events take place around the greater Chicago area (mostly northern, northwestern, and western suburbs). We also hold some virtual discussions.

Our SUO program is open to autistic/neurodivergent adults aged 18+ in the community who can independently attend activities without the need of a parent or other support. After a short intake questionnaire, you can be added to our mailing list for future events. Please reach out to suo@aspiritech.org if you are interested or have any questions.