From Campus Innovation to Cross-Institutional Strategy: Building a System-Level Approach to Advancing Career Outcomes for Autistic Students

Spotlight on the Sapphire Program

Join us for an overview of an exciting and innovative student-led not for profit program and national conversation exploring opportunities for a system-level approach to empowering the career success of autistic students across the country on:

March 12th, 2026 | 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET
via Zoom

Session Overview

Across the post-secondary landscape career centres are exploring approaches to improve career outcomes for neurodiverse students.

Sapphire is a student-led, non-profit program created to support autistic postsecondary students to transition successfully from their post-secondary studies to the workplace. The program was co-created with autistic students, informed by ethics-approved research, and developed in consultation with autism organizations and self-advocates across Canada.

Sapphire supports students through career-readiness training, individualized job. and career coaching, mentorship, and access to paid work placements. Sapphire also supports employers through neuroinclusivity training, and a simple but comprehensive neuroinclusivity toolkit that covers recruitment, hiring, and working with autistic employees to achieve their full career potential.

Currently operating as a single-campus program at Wilfrid Laurier University, Sapphire is exploring a national pilot that would engage 8–10 institutions and support approximately 500 autistic students, while advancing a coordinated approach to improving career outcomes for autistic students across the postsecondary ecosystem.

This session moves beyond a program showcase. It invites senior and operational leaders into a strategic yet pragmatic conversation about advancing career success for autistic students, strengthening supports for career educators, students, and employers, and exploring the potential benefits of evolving from a single-campus initiative to a coordinated, system-level approach to transition to the workplace programming and support for autistic students.

We invite you to review the Sapphire Program One-Page Overview in advance of the session to familiarize yourself with its structure and core components.

Who Should Attend?

Senior and operational leaders in career education, experiential learning, accessibility, employer engagement, and student success who are interested in strengthening institutional approaches to supporting career outcomes for autistic students.

Why Attend?

Participants will:

• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the Sapphire program model
• Connect with colleagues interested in advancing neuroinclusive career education and campus recruitment strategy
• Engage in dialogue about what would be needed to move towards a system-level approach to improving career outcoems for autistic and neurodiverse students
• Explore the potential of participating in a cross-institutional pilot initiative

Join the Conversation

This session is FREE to attend. Please register using the button at the bottom of this page.

Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail which includes the Zoom link to join the session. You will also receive a reminder 24 hours prior to the session.

We can't wait to welcome you to this event!