About Us - NeuroTalent Works

About Us

Our Vision:

Build neurodiverse workplaces that welcome and appreciate all types of minds

Our Mission:

Advance neurodiversity inclusion (a diversity of minds) in the workplace and connect employers to neurodiverse talent

Our Core Values:

Everyone brings value
Our talent, our team, our partners.

Engage fearlessly
The mission demands excellence.
We are compelled by an uncompromising passion for progress.

Focus on the one
The mission requires empathy.
When we impact one, we impact many.

Collaborate radically
The mission is bigger than any one of us.
We are better together.

Our Story

We are a team of aspiring social entrepreneurs passionate about achieving our mission to significantly transform the lives of adults on the autism spectrum by providing opportunities for meaningful and gainful employment.

We believe our varied professional backgrounds, commitment to social causes and personal experiences are uniquely suited to establish a sustainable organization that will have a long-lasting impact for the autism community and society as a whole. Jessica’s consulting experience and passion for human-centric social impact, Paul’s technical acumen and experience serving the marginalized overseas, Lisa’s legal background and experience in special needs’ education, and Herag’s entrepreneurship and corporate experience make for a dynamic leadership team.

Our Team

Herag Haleblian

President, Founder

Herag Haleblian

President, Founder

Herag Haleblian, founder of KRE Consulting, LLC, is a management consultant with over 25 years of extensive experience in delivering large, complex and diverse projects. With a unique ability to articulate complex ideas clearly, he utilizes his skills in various settings. His calm demeanor, optimistic nature and critical thinking skills enable him to leverage strong relationships at multiple levels of client organizations to achieve the desired results.

Herag earned his MBA and BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. Prior to founding KRE, Herag was a Sr. Manager with Accenture for 10 years, where he gained extensive project management skills managing multiple large system implementations, as well as business strategy and transformation projects.

His other passions include academia and social justice. He spent a sabbatical year as a visiting professor at the American University of Armenia, and currently is a guest lecturer at his alma mater, the University of Southern California. He continues to be an active board member on several local and international non-profit organizations that deal primarily in the areas of leadership development and social justice for the marginalized.

An avid sports fan, he is a die-hard soccer enthusiast who dreams of attending every World Cup in the near future. He prefers beer over wine, reads Tim Keller and Malcom Gladwell, watches UFC with his son, Robert, travels by train with his youngest son, Ethan, and even attends UCLA games with his daughter, Karina (Fight On!)

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Jessica Lee

Executive Director, Co-Founder

Jessica Lee

Executive Director, Co-Founder

Jessica Lee is passionate about being a catalyst for positive change and driving social impact from a human-centered approach. Jessica was a management consultant (where she met Herag on a client project) and a project manager for a Fortune 500 company leading the development and execution of an organizational strategy for managing the people-side of enterprise change. Having led organizational change efforts, Jessica is eager and excited to blend her professional experience with her heart for social impact to lead change in organizations’ and society’s perceptions about autism and the neurodivergent community.

Jessica earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Global Business from the University of Southern California and an Executive Certificate in Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania.

In her free time she enjoys being outdoors: hiking, playing tennis, and relaxing at the beach. She loves exploring and going on adventures locally and globally, and at any moment, almost always has an upcoming trip to look forward to.

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Lisa Haleblian

Director of Administration, Co-Founder

Lisa Haleblian

Director of Administration, Co-Founder

Lisa Haleblian, a mom of 3, has spent the majority of her adult life raising her daughter and two sons with dedication and passion, even home schooling her son with special needs for 5 years through middle school. As a graduate of USC’s Gould School of Law, she worked in civil litigation defending life and health insurance companies against bad faith claims.

She is currently Managing Director of KRE Consulting and a structured literacy instructor for students with learning challenges at The Frostig School in Pasadena. She has served in various capacities on school and nonprofit boards.

Her passion for social justice, especially in the area of special needs, has immersed her into the autism community where she seeks to leverage her advocacy skills to promote the dignity and competence of children and adults on the autism spectrum. With her husband Herag, she co-founded NeuroTalent Works.

An avid reader, Lisa’s perfect day consists of lots of good coffee and a variety of books. She loves experimenting in the kitchen with her son, Robert, watching anything British on Netflix with her daughter, Karina, and learning about World War II with her youngest, Ethan.

[email protected]

Paul Barmaksezian

Director of Technology

Paul Barmaksezian

Director of Technology

Paul Barmaksezian is a software development and technology consultant with over 20 years of experience in data warehousing and business intelligence projects. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and working for years as a consultant for a Fortune 500 consulting firm, as well as serving integral roles in multiple technology start-ups, Paul co-founded a highly successful business intelligence consulting firm. There, he managed and implemented large-scale custom software development projects for some of the most well-known names in the e-commerce and online search industries.

In 2011, Paul followed his calling to become a full-time missionary with his wife, Ani, and their two young children. He became Founder and President of 58:7 Ministries, a non-profit he co-founded with his sister. He and his family moved to Nicaragua to help lead a program which rescues and helps heal young girls who were exploited while living in the dumps of Managua. In addition, he has launched a low-interest small loan program to help new families with housing construction, individuals with educational and medical needs, and churches expanding to reach their communities. His compassion for the vulnerable along with his corporate technology experience has led him toward the cause for meaningful and gainful employment of the autism community.

Paul has a passion for mentoring young adults, from deeper counseling to teaching them English and basic computer skills. He also loves to dabble in new technology and doesn’t mind relaxing with a couple of hours of “Breath of the Wild” gaming with his son, Luke, or singing like no one’s listening with his daughter, Michelle.

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Matt Leger

Director of Strategy and Growth

Matt Leger

Director of Strategy and Growth

Matt Leger is the Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at NeuroTalent Works. He is deeply
passionate about neurodiversity because he believes our world and economy are stronger when
every kind of mind can contribute fully. His mission is simple: to help all minds thrive—at work
and in life.

In his role at NTW, he is leading the organization’s next chapter of growth, transformation, and
innovation. Matt holds the responsibilities of strengthening internal operations, diversifying
revenue, and expanding philanthropic/business partnerships to sustain and scale NTW’s impact.

He brings more than a decade of experience as a public servant, researcher, analyst, advisor,
and strategist helping mission-driven organizations grow, adapt, and achieve their goals. His
work spans areas like executive advising, change management, strategic planning and
execution, content and thought leadership, fundraising, grant writing, market research, business
development, innovation, and digital transformation.

Beyond NTW, Matt is the Founder of Pharos Intelligence, a strategic advisory and data-as-a-
service firm that empowers social sector leaders to quickly identify high-potential funding/partnership opportunities, benchmark their finances and operations, and enable data-
informed decision making. Matt is also the Founder of ML Consulting & Advisory, a social enterprise focused on helping mission-driven organizations execute strategic research and
thought leadership initiatives to drive awareness, build credibility, and accelerate their missions.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy, as well as a Master of Public Administration from
the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany. Matt is based in
the Greater Boston area, where he lives with his wife Ellie, his two children, Owen and Elara, as
well as their cats, Riley and Remy.

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Danielle Hunt

Talent Readiness Program Manager

Danielle Hunt

Talent Readiness Program Manager

Danielle's background is in behavioral health. She earned her Masters in Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis from Purdue University and has actively worked with children and adults in the neurodivergent community for the last 6 years. She enjoys building relationships with everyone she meets in the hopes to help them reach their personal and career goals.

Danielle has taken her passion with her during her travels as well. She founded and runs a ministry in Malawi, Africa which builds wheelchairs for children and adults with mobility issues, and provides small business grants for their caregivers. Danielle and her husband recently welcomed their first baby boy into the family this year. So when she is not working, she is soaking in baby cuddles and enjoying outdoor activities.

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Paige Binsley Coons

Program Associate

Paige Binsley Coons

Program Associate

Paige Binsley Coons is a Program Associate with NeuroTalent Works, joining in the mission to create neurodiverse workplaces. She works on programs for neurodivergent community members as well as corporate partners. Paige’s connection with NeuroTalent Works began as a job seeking USC graduate with an adult autism diagnosis. She found meaningful mentorship and training opportunities provided by the organization.

Paige is passionate about empowering neurodivergent adults to reach their full potential. Through NeuroTalent Works, she offers no-cost services for the community including one-on-one meetings, interview practice, networking events, trainings, and workshops.

In her neurodiversity work, Paige has worked with non-profit organizations that serve adults affected by autism and other disabilities. Paige organizes a social group, Ventura County Neurodivergent Adults, to provide opportunities for connection in her community. Paige is currently studying to become a marriage and family therapist in the Antioch University Santa Barbara M.A. in Clinical Psychology program. In her free time, Paige enjoys spending time with loved ones and pets, cooking, and listening to podcasts.

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Melody Valenzuela

Neurodiversity Consultant and Coach

Melody Valenzuela

Neurodiversity Consultant and Coach

Melody Valenzuela is an Educational Therapist in private practice in the Pasadena area, where she has a daily impact on how neurodiverse students and their families understand and operate with cognitive differences in learning and relationships. Certified by the Association of Educational Therapists, she is trained in assessing critical aspects of need in her clients, and creating and executing research-informed treatment plans.

She holds a Bachelor’s of Art degree from Azusa Pacific University, where she studied Spanish and Latin Civilization and Literature, paving the way for understanding diversity of culture, language, and the influence of linguistics in cognitive processes and communication. She further received a Professional Certificate in Translation and Interpretation from the University of California, San Diego.

For recreation, Melody loves to spend quality time with her guitar or keyboard songwriting, and enjoys discovering new hikes with her husband.

Board of Directors