Jessica Bayes

Jessica Bayes

She/Her

Why are you nominating for the Board?

I am passionate about advocating for the rights of all autistic people. I currently work as a Research Academic at Southern cross University where my research focuses on supporting the health and wellbeing of autistic adults. I am passionate about helping those in the autistic community and giving back. I believe I would be an excellent asset to the board and have much to contribute given my unique skill set and experience.

What involvement have you had in Autistic self advocacy?

I have been involved in leading an organisation (as Deputy Chair) that advocates for the rights and needs of autistic individuals. I have spoken at conferences and community events to raise awareness about autism and share personal experiences. I have created and participated in community-based initiatives, including support groups and workshops for autistic adults. I have provided mentorship and support to other autistic individuals, including autistic university students and helped them advocate for their needs.

What experience on and contributions to other boards and committees have you had?

I have been the deputy Chair and Research Officer for the Northern Rivers Autism Association (a relatively new charity local to my area) I helped set up this organisation and developed the business plan, strategic plan, developed a series of workshops advocating and supporting wellbeing, developed and ran the monthly e-newsletters, and facilitated the community forums. I have worked on developing a jobs board for the region and initiated partnerships with local business to advocate for autistic workers and employment and helped to develop an autism friendly workplace checklist to support and advocate to business the benefits of employing autistic workers.

What are your areas of expertise?

I have experience in governance, research and ethics, advocacy and I have a PhD in Public Health. I have been successful in applying for community grants and recently have been successful in obtaining a $20k community grant to support the workshops that I developed. I have extensive experience managing projects and grant funding.

Which of these areas do you have strong skills in that you would apply on the ASAN-AUNZ Board?

  • Financial management and/or accounting
  • Familiarity with policy review – I regularly do this for my day job, I have extensive experience developing policies, procedure and reviewing documentation to ensure compliance
  • Government and stakeholder engagement – I regularly engage with stakeholders as part of my research work and board experience. I have previously established Autism Advisory Boards and work closely with numerus disability organisations
  • Experience working with vulnerable people – I have experience working with vulnerable people through my current work as a postdoctoral researcher in addition to my Board experience running workshops and community forums
  • Social media planning, copywriting and posting – I have been an admin for multiple social media pages related to autism. I used to run my own business (where I was solely responsible for marketing, social media posts and maintaining my website). I am also responsible for advertising my research projects and am regularly featured in podcasts, newspaper article, have been on live radio multiple times, and have appear on channel 7 and channel 9 news.
  • Information technology administration – I have exceptional IT skills, proficient in Canva, mail chimp, excel, website creation, Zoom and Teams, Outlook and many others.
  • Co-design facilitation and participation – I have developed Autism Advisory Group and co-designed multiple projects with the autism community previously.

What else would you like the members of ASAN-AUNZ to know about you? (optional)

I am an Autistic woman and autism researcher. I have successfully ran my own business for several years and currently work as a researcher at a university, focusing on health and wellbeing for autistic adults. I am extremely passionate about giving back to community and advocating for our needs. I think it’s vital to amplify autistic voices and educate the public.