About Us - NeuroTalent Works

About Us

Our Vision:

Build neurodiverse workplaces

Our Mission:

Transition gifted individuals on the autism spectrum

into valuable talent for corporations

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!)

herag@neurotalentworks.org

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.

jessica@neurotalentworks.org

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.

lisa@neurotalentworks.org

Matt Harris

Director of Business Partnerships

Matt Harris

Director of Business Partnerships

Matt Harris is the Director of Business Partnerships for NeuroTalent Works. He is passionate and hopeful about increasing awareness around neurodiversity and helping bridge the underemployment gap for neurodivergent talent.

Prior to starting NeuroTalent Works, Matt worked in Talent Acquisition for Diversity & Inclusion efforts at Qualcomm and Meta, and was the hiring lead for people with disabilities at Qualcomm, where he piloted their Autism @ Work program. Matt sits on the Board of Directors for a local non-profit, National Foundation for Autism Research. He also loves to golf, play pickleball, be outside, and try new exciting places to eat with his wife and friends.

matt@neurotalentworks.org

Monica Mitrani

Director of Business Development

Monica Mitrani

Director of Business Development

monica@neurotalentworks.org

Danielle Hunt

Talent Readiness Program Manager

Danielle Hunt

Talent Readiness Program Manager

danielle@neurotalentworks.org

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.

paul@neurotalentworks.org

Paige Binsley

Program Associate

Paige Binsley

Program Associate

Paige Binsley 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.

paige@neurotalentworks.org