Carly Ott is a self-advocate board member and Chair of our national Council of Autistic Advisors, also serving on several committees and task forces. She was the recipient of Autism Society of America’s Volunteer of the Year in 2018 and the Bob Beggan Award for Professional Mentorship in 2020. She was the first Autistic president of the Board of Directors of Autism Society Ventura County and served in that role for six years. Upon getting her Autism diagnosis and re-entering society after years on Social Security Disability, she worked her way up from paying bills to a Senior Vice President Business Architect for a major national bank, serving as a leader in their Neurodiversity and Disability ERG efforts. Her advocacy passion relates to women and girls with Autism, as well as working with employers to shift the culture to enable a more diverse and inclusive workplace for employees with Autism.