A supportive space for neurodivergent people to find mentors, friends, and community

A picture of four people sitting and talking on a couch in a semi-circle, cropped in a bubbly shape with a black border and tree sketches on the top-left and bottom-right corners.
photo by Disabled And Here. Modifications: used in collage Source
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ND Connect is a third place for neurodivergent people. You can think of it as a community living room. It’s your place to come together, share experiences, and belong.

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We believe everyone deserves to find their people.

ND Connect came out of our personal experiences navigating the world as neurodivergent people.

For a lot of our lives we struggled with feeling alone. We’ve also felt lost, misunderstood, or like we were drowning in systems not designed for us. It was almost impossible to find community, support, and advice that:

  1. actually worked for us
  2. didn’t make us feel like there was something “wrong” with us

From talking to other neurodivergent people, we realized we weren’t the only ones. So many of us go through life carrying guile and shame for our human needs and the ways we naturally exist. We realized that life didn’t have to be this way and that we could try and do something about it.

A black lino-cut stamp of two people against an orange-to-pink gradient background. The person on the left has long hair, is wearing headphones, and is waving. The person on the right has short hair and is lifting their arms up and smiling.

Our Vision

We’re building a space that intentionally fosters genuine connections

We want everyone to find their people: people that make them feel seen and shown up for. We want you to be your whole, authentic self and feel celebrated and championed for it.

If you’re reading this (which you are lol) we want to tell you: You don’t have to do it alone.

We can uplift our communities together. Let’s be there for each other.

A sketch of hands making a heart shape with the heart filled with a gradient going from orange, to pink, and to purple.

Meet the team

(You can also meet us for real every week in our community hangouts 👀)

A stamp of a coffee pot
A photo of Eliana, one of ND Connect's co-founders. She is a white woman with long brown hair, smiling at the camera. She is wearing a white shirt and blazer.

Eliana Bravos

she/her

Co-founder | Community & partnerships

A photo of Eliana, one of ND Connect's co-founders. She is a white woman with long brown hair, smiling at the camera. She is wearing a white shirt and blazer.
A stamp of a coffee pot

Eliana Bravos

she/her

Co-founder | Community & partnerships

Eliana is nourished by co-creating accessible community spaces where people form deep social ties and feel like they belong.

Eliana initially came up with the idea for ND Connect after she found a life-changing mentor, completely by accident, who also had ADHD and shared some of her other lived experiences. These relationships are hard to find but they shouldn’t be.

She has an HBSc from the University of Toronto, where she studied Psychology and Peace, Conflict, and Justice. As a social impact entrepreneur, she’s supported 1000+ leaders in making their cultures and processes more accessible and has facilitated non-hierarchical peer programming with neurodivergent people since 2018. She has also spearheaded projects on COVID-19, student rights, and employment discrimination.

Eliana dreams big and gets people excited about our mission. She’s still learning to not be too anxiously perfectionistic, but feels like she makes up for it by being a good source of comedic relief.

A stamp of a train on a railroad
A photo of Peter, one of ND Connect's co-founders. He is an East Asian man with short black hair and glasses, smiling at the camera. SHe is wearing a blue shirt.

Peter Lai

he/him

Co-founder | Back-end dev & operations

A photo of Peter, one of ND Connect's co-founders. He is an East Asian man with short black hair and glasses, smiling at the camera. SHe is wearing a blue shirt.
A stamp of a train on a railroad

Peter Lai

he/him

Co-founder | Back-end dev & operations

Peter is passionate about building innovative technology systems and, very in line with some ND stereotypes, is a lifelong transit enthusiast.

He is motivated to build ND Connect because he’s struggled with feeling to anxious to meet new people, and wants to create a supportive space to help other who relate.

Peter graduated from the University of Toronto with a BASc in Engineering Science. He has an extensive background in software design/development, data analytics, simulations, and machine learning/AI.

On our team we joke that Peter has the executive functioning skills of 1000 men. He helps manage our team’s chaos and channels our energy to make things happen.

A stamp of Seneca Rocks (a mountain in West Virginia, USA)
A photo of Jacob, one of ND Connect's co-founders. They are a white non-binary person with long brown hair, smiling at the camera. He is wearing a sweater with pumpkins and cartoon ghosts on it.

Jacob Estep

they/he

Co-founder | UX design & front-end dev

A photo of Jacob, one of ND Connect's co-founders. They are a white non-binary person with long brown hair, smiling at the camera. He is wearing a sweater with pumpkins and cartoon ghosts on it.
A stamp of Seneca Rocks (a mountain in West Virginia, USA)

Jacob Estep

they/he

Co-founder | UX design & front-end dev

Jacob is deeply passionate about using tech for good and has felt the need for platforms like ND Connect firsthand. Throughout their life, Jacob’s watched their peers make connections and form networks where opportunities, job offers, and social events were shared. This was frustrating because even though he knew it was a valuable thing to be doing, he had a hard time accessing them.

Jacob has a BSc in Computer Science from West Virginia Wesleyan College and an MSc in Technology Innovation from the University of Washington. They have experience leading projects and building software to support marginalized communities.

UX design is one of Jacob’s longest special interests: even before he could afford a laptop, he spent most of his free time designing app interfaces using pencil and paper. His intrinsic interest and experiences growing up queer in rural Appalachia help him design for different tech literacy levels and ways of thinking. Through his passion for design, he wants to build inclusive systems that help people feel like they matter and get what they need to thrive.

We’re not just a team that thinks different. We’re a team that does different.

Fun fact: we’re a multi-stakeholder co-operative!

We know that neurodivergent people have a long history of not having their voices listened to by organizations meant to serve them. We wanted to make sure that this never happens here by choosing the organizational structure that best embodies economic justice, community empowerment, and “nothing about us without us”.

A white sketch of three hands held out towards a weighing scale against an airbrushed background with a warm gradient going from white to orange and purple.

Unlike most companies, being a multi-stakeholder co-operative means that we will share ownership with our workers and you - our community members that use the platform. This means that you’ll always have a real say in how we do things, and we’ll always have accountability to you.

It also means that unlike most startups, we’re not looking for a quick exit. Our goal is to steward this place together for generations to come.

Building a better digital space.

Traditional social platforms...

  • Sell your data and disrespect your privacy
  • Maximize your attention, trying to keep you on it
  • Are driven by content consumption
  • Are noisy and addictive

ND Connect is...

  • Privacy-oriented. We know the choice of whether to disclose your neurodivergence is a personal one. We’ll never sell your data or feed you ads.
  • Designed for differing energy and capacity levels. We only want you to be on the platform as long as it’s helpful to you
  • Driven by real connection and community building.
  • Care-centred, consent-based, and helps you focus on what matters.
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Be part of a better future

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