Nearly one in three children will be diagnosed with autism. When they turn 21, school and government services come to an abrupt end. These young adults will face a lifetime of unemployment, social isolation, and the very real threat of homelessness when aging parents can no longer care for them. Most people with autism have average or above average intelligence, yet unemployment/underemployment is over 85% (2016), and the waiting lists for housing and services is often decades long. MHAF is changing this future and working with communities and families across the country to provide quality of life opportunities for this growing and very vulnerable population.
Clay Christensen is a best-selling author of nine books and more than a hundred articles. His first book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, which articulates his views on disruptive innovation, received the Global Business Book Award as the best business book of the year (1997); and in 2011 The Economist named it as one of the six most important books about business ever written. At Harvard Business School, he teaches an elective course he designed called “Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise,” which teaches how to build and manage an enduring company or transform an existing organization.
Earlier this year, Case Studio hosted a Madison House fundraiser at its headquarters in Manhattan. Clay shared his ideas for building sustainable and successful organizations. Business leaders and innovative thinkers gathered at Case-studio to listen to the man who was twice named the Number One Management Thinker in the World and to engage in meaningful discussion about innovation. He is the architect of and the world’s foremost authority on disruptive innovation and has applied his groundbreaking ideas to business, education, healthcare, social issues and personal values.
In addition to his roles as professor, researcher and author, Clay serves as a business consultant and has helped cofound multiple organizations to implement his theories and positively impact businesses and corporations worldwide including Innosight strategy and innovation consulting firm. Innosight Institute, a not-for-profit, and non-partisan think tank is working to develop solutions to the most vexing social problems. Currently, Clay serves as the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and is the author of numerous books including the inspirational book, “How Will You Measure Your Life?” offering his unique wisdom on fulfilling your life’s purpose.
The Board and Staff of Madison House Autism Foundation are grateful to count Clay Christensen and the Case Studio team as champions and supporters of our work. We continue to be awed and inspired by the innovating and impactful work of both Clay and Case Studio. Visit Clay Christensen and Case Studio to learn more.
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Just read the first article I this month’s newsletter; outstanding and exciting. It inspires me to want to do more to move the work of Madison House forward. Thanks for the exemplary effort you as an organization are making to make a difference that matters for out brothers and sisters on the spectrum.
Annette Lantos Tillemann-Dick