Kelly Grainger, also known as 'The Autistic CEO', is a powerful keynote speaker and advocate for neurodiversity, inclusive leadership, and workplace culture. Diagnosed as autistic and ADHD in his fourties, Kelly's successful 23 years in corporate settings have included senior roles with the likes of PepsiCo, Merlin Entertainments and News International. Kelly now shares his knowledge, experiences, and trains businesses on how they can be more accepting of neurodiversity.
As the co-founder of Perfectly Autistic, a workplace neurodiversity consultancy launched with his wife Hester Grainger, Kelly has trained thousands of individuals, helped businesses redesign management practices, and educated teams to prevent and resolve conflicts, all whilst helping organisations understand the importance of supporting systems for neurodivergent people. Kelly has also collaborated with Mind’s Mental Health at Work programme to create toolkits that businesses can use, in order to be more friendly towards neurodiversity in the workplace.
Kelly was invited to speak at the United Nations Global Compact and the Autism Show, and has worked with several high-profile organisations such as Red Bull Racing F1, TUI, NHS, British Airways, GSK, and more. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio, and has been featured on leading podcasts and national media such as The Financial Times, Disability Review Magazine, Huffington Post, Independent, Daily Mail and Telegraph.
A proficient and insightful speaker, Kelly provides workshops on how to create happier, healthier and more productive workplaces - and Champions Speakers are honoured to be an official booking agent for Kelly Grainger. Kelly equips audiences with a clearer understanding of neurodiversity beyond stereotypes and the tools to enact inclusive leadership and management. With renewed confidence and more welcoming environments, teams can ensure that every individual, neurodivergent or not, performs at their peak.
Kelly Grainger's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Neurodiversity at Work: Beyond Awareness to Real Inclusion
- Late Diagnosis: Identity, Burnout and Belonging
- Inclusive Leadership: Designing Workplaces That Actually Work
- Neurodiversity, Mental Health & Burnout
- Managing Neurodiverse Teams
- Preventing Conflict in the Workplace
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
"I just wanted to again pass on our sincere thanks for Kelly’s talk today. We’ve had some really great feedback from colleagues saying how insightful it was and has triggered some internal conversations around how we benchmark career progression and give more management training to support everyone – which is exactly what we were hoping for!" - Han, Chair, Collective Abilities Network, King
"Please pass on our appreciation and thanks to Kelly. Great presentation last night. We look forward to working with him again in the near future" - Chris & Vicky, OMD EMEA
"Kelly delivered a really fantastic session yesterday! His talk was super engaging, clear and really insightful. We’ve had lots of great feedback come through already and the Teams chat was alive with discussion so it was fantastic to see that so many people found the conversation insightful and thought-provoking. The session was exactly what we were looking to achieve in terms of helping people to think openly about how we shift our customer experiences to make them more accessible and inclusive. So really big thank you to Kelly!"- Emily, BP
"It was a fascinating webinar – brilliantly presented. Kelly – I can see why you’re in demand in the media."
"There were so many questions from so many different people, you really got the engagement from the audience. They wanted to hear your story!"
"It was a brilliant webinar. Thank you for sharing your story and experience."
"It was brilliant Kelly – you’re one of the best presenters we’ve ever had."
"I wanted to say a huge thank you to for taking the time to speak to our Diversity & Inclusion Working Group members today. We got some fantastic feedback on your presentation and participation in the Q&A, both during and after the event."
"Nothing but positive feedback from the event. Kelly was absolutely brilliant, he was so engaging and there were many takeaways from the talk. We received so many questions in the Q&A part of the event, which just shows the huge interest in our colleagues wanting to find out more about Neurodiversity." - Emma, Close Brothers
"Kelly's talk went down really well, with a few people commenting off the back of our posts with recommendations to watch and the benefit they got from it. We have personally been driving a personal story piece within our firm to help raise awareness on topics first hand from colleagues which have more impact, so hearing Kelly's experiences also tied into that and really helped convey more the message of simple things we can be doing and understanding we need in this area." - Sophie, Ogier Legal Shared Services
- 2025 - Featured in the Disability Review Magazine
- 2023 - Ambassador, AccessAbile
- 2020 - Co-Founder & CEO, Perfectly Autistic
- 2020 - Contributor, BBC Radio
- 2018 - Regional Sales Director, Tarkett
- 2017 - Head of Trade Sales, Merlin Entertainment
- 2013 - Sales Director, Interface
- 2011 - UK Customer Sustainability Manager, Interface
- 2010 - Customer Business Manager, PepsiCo
How to hire Kelly Grainger
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Kelly Grainger for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
