249: Designing Neurodiverse Inclusive Organizations with Ludmila Praslova

Work From The Inside Out

Ludmila N. Praslova, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, is the author of The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work. She is a Professor of Psychology and the founding Director of Graduate Programs in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Vanguard University of Southern California.

Born in Moscow, Ludmila grew up in a blue collar area where textile mills and farming were predominant, yet, she shared, there was a strange mix of high culture blended in with visits to museums and trips to the theater. She enjoyed reading college text books as a child and writing poetry. Her parents pressed her to use her hands to sew, garden, and play a musical instrument, all of which felt impossible to her.

Ludmila graduated from the Russian State University of Humanities with a 5-year specialist degree in organizational management processes and human resources. She chose this focus because it was a compromise between something she enjoyed studying and a path that could lead to stable employment. Ludmila was still figuring out her career and did not plan to work in education—she was focused on organizational practice. She went on to build and lead successful intercultural relations programs in global organizations.

Ludmila’s areas of expertise include organizational culture assessment and change, workplace justice and civility, productivity and well-being, and training and training evaluation. She is the editor of the book Evidence-Based Organizational Practices for Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity. Her current consulting focuses on supporting organizations in creating systemic inclusion informed by an understanding of neurodiversity.

In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Ludmila’s journey:

• Ludmila is a member of the Thinkers 50 Radar Class of 2024 – a global group of management thinkers, recognized as most likely to make an impact on the world.
• As a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, she is the first person to have published in Harvard Business Review from an autistic perspective. She also writes regularly for Fast Company.

Learn more and connect with Ludmila here:

https://www.instagram.com/ludmilapraslova/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ludmila-praslova/

https://twitter.com/LudmilaPraslova

https://www.facebook.com/lucy.praslova/

https://thecanarycode.com/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/152300584X?tag=randohouseinc7986-20