Thorkil Sonne, Founder of the Danish Social Innovation Specialisterne
 
Theme:
 
More and more people are being diagnosed with a disability and struggle to find meaningful and productive jobs in the labor market. At the same time many businesses face a shortage of skilled employees. The gap between untapped talent among people with disabilities and vacant jobs can be reduced or even removed. The founder of the Danish Social Innovation Specialisterne will share experience from Denmark and Canada and discuss how stakeholders can work together to realize the goal to enable One Million Jobs for people with autism and similar challenges.
 
Biography
Thorkil Sonne is the founder and chairman of Specialisterne and Specialist People Foundation. Thorkil first became involved in autism when his son Lars was diagnosed with infantile autism in 1999. He became active in Danish Autism Society, eventually leaving his Technical Director position in an IT startup company to establish Specialisterne in 2003. Thorkil has since played an active role in global social entrepreneurship, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2009 and Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur in 2012. He is now based in the United States where he is driving the expansion of the Specialisterne model.