Advisors

Lawrence Fung, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the Stanford Neurodiversity Project and head advisor of SNP NNEA. Dr. Fung specializes in autism and neurodiversity. Through SNP, he has led the organization of new important initiatives such as Neurodiversity at Work (NaW) program, Neurodiverse Student Support Program (NSSP), Stanford Neurodiversity Project - Research, Education, and Advocacy Camp for High Schoolers (SNP-REACH), and the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit (SNS). He serves as Director of the Neurodiversity Clinic, and Assistant Professor (University Medical Line) in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. He is also the father of a teenager on the spectrum.

Helen is a senior at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, and serves as an advisor of SNP NNEA. After attending the inaugural SNP neurodiversity summer program for high school students, she founded the Neurodiversity Committee at her school, leading a team of students to spread awareness for neurodiversity. Since the summer of 2020, she has served as a program coordinator for SNP-REACH. Additionally, Helen is a research intern working on the development of a musical abilities assessment for individuals with ASD, a passionate volunteer for individuals with autism, and an avid musician.

Isabella He is a junior at Stanford University and serves as one of the advisors of the Network for K-12 Neurodiversity Education and Advocacy (NNEA). With the Stanford Neurodiversity Project, she is working on a vocational training study for neurodiverse/neurodivergent individuals and an AI-powered job matcher project with the Neurodiversity At Work initiative. Outside of neurodiversity advocacy, she is a wrestler, pianist, and an editor for her school journalism team.

Sasha Balasingam is an incoming sophmore at Stanford University from Los Gatos, California and  served as co-chair of the NNEA Core-Committee this past year. Along with being a camp counselor at Stanford Neurodiversity Project’s summer program for highschoolers- SNP REACH, for the past two years, she is also involved with helping the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit.  She grew up as a younger sibling of a sister on the Autism Spectrum and has been involved with several forms of neurodiversity all her life through serving as a representative for special needs inclusion and advocacy. Over the past few years, she has worked with police and fire departments to install a program that helps first responders during emergencies with neurodiverse individuals. Outside of her neurodiversity work, she loves playing piano, dancing, taekwondo, and working in town government.

Isabelle Hsu is an EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) major at UC Berkeley. Being neurodiverse, she’s served various roles at SNP since she attended SNP-REACH in 2020, including being SNP-NNEA’s Co-Chair and advisor, SNP-REACH’s counselor and coordinator, and SNS Summit’s organizing committee member, speaker, and moderator. Isabelle loves music. She holds an LRSM in piano performance and has been teaching piano to autistic students for over 3 years; she’s also won the Sweepstakes Drum Major title multiple times from leading her high school’s award-winning varsity marching band.

Chloé Lukac is a rising high school senior and is serving as SNP NNEA’s Co-Chair. Being neurodiverse, she attended 2021’s SNP REACH where she learned so much that she later joined NNEA and lead the website subcommittee. Chloé is a passionate advocate for neurodiversity and has started accommodation projects in her own high school wining bursaries to implement sensory equipment in different classes. Outside of her neurodiversity work, she loves musical theatre, literature, sailing and skiing. 

Rishi Upadhyay is an incoming freshman at Stanford University from Sacramento, California. He attended SNP-REACH in 2021, where his group’s project was integrating strengths-based learning into their respective schools; throughout the course of high school, he has tutored individuals from all backgrounds through the strengths-based model of preferred learning styles. He served on the Stanford Network for K-12 Neurodiversity Education and Advocacy (NNEA) as a Public Relations subcommittee member and founded the Hispanic Initiatives Subcommittee in 2022. He served as advisor for the Hispanic Initiatives subcommittee and as the NNEA co-chair for the 2023 - 2024 academic term. In his free time, he enjoys writing, playing the piano, and riding his bike.