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Aspiritech Celebrates Opening New Headquarters in Evanston, IL

We celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a Home of Our Own on April 24.
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We have hundreds of people to thank for this opportunity and many of our donors and supporters participated. The speakers touched on some of the things that make Aspiritech’s business and community so unique. Check out what they had to say.

Aspiritech, one of North America’s largest employers of people on the autism spectrum, celebrated the grand opening of its new headquarters in Evanston with a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 23.

Outgoing Executive Director and co-founder Brenda Weitzberg presided. Brenda was joined at the podium by Ester Stein, Board Chair, Aspiritech Staff Members Jacob Bielski, Joe Goodman and Brian Tozzo; Mayor of Evanston Daniel Biss, CMO Brad Cohen, Outgoing CEO and Co-Founder Moshe Weitzberg, and the new CEO Tara May. While there were hundreds of people to thank, the speakers touched on some of the things that make Aspiritech’s business and community so unique.

“Our name and logo highlight the word spirit

“Our name and logo highlight the word spirit which is synonymous with strength, courage, fortitude, guts and character. These are qualities descriptive of so many of the people I have had the privilege to meet because of spirited autistic neurodivergent adults who, despite the challenges of living in a neurotypical world, aspire each and every day to attain fulfilling and meaningful lives.

Our staff demonstrates every day that given the right understanding and support and most importantly, the right job fit, you excel. You provide a huge benefit to the business community. Our continuing success is first and foremost because of you.”

Photo: Brenda Weitzberg

“I think a lot of us could have found jobs, but there wouldn’t be us. There wouldn’t be this community that I needed. ”

Photo: Jacob Bielski
Photo: Joe Goodman

“I finally have a real reliable position where I can grow a career and establish a real life for myself. ”

“After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in physics, I had a surprisingly difficult time finding a job. Then eventually I heard about Aspiritech, and I heard back from them.

I finally have a real reliable position where I can grow a career and establish a real life for myself. Aspiritech is an opportunity to raise members of our community out of an all-too-common struggle of underemployment and poverty and all the struggles that go along with it. Treating our employees with compassion and fostering our inherent talents, Aspiritech has shown a decent standard of living is attainable for neurodiverse individuals.”

“I hope we are going to come back to the office soon.”

“I have been with Aspiritech since 2010. We have acquired many clients over the years. We have also QA Tested in many applications and web pages, speakers and headphones, barcode printers, pet blood and urine analysis machines, and even little robots that teach autistic children about interpreting facial and body expressions. We are fortunate enough to be able to adapt to sudden changes, like the pandemic of 2020. Now many of our testers are still working from home. I hope that we are going to come back to the office soon.”

Photo: Brian Tozzo
Photo: Moshe Weitzberg

“We emphasize quality. What sets us apart from all other STEM companies in the entire world is that 95% of our QA Team Leads and managers are people on the spectrum. ”

“When we started Aspiritech, we were the first in North America. The two other companies took autistic people to work at client sites. We ask companies to give us the entire project. They quickly learned how good we are and we grew by word of mouth. We emphasize quality.

What sets us apart from all other STEM companies in the entire world is the fact that 95% of our QA Team Leads and managers are people on the spectrum. It’s not easy. It took years for people to develop the skills to secure these kinds of responsibilities. The QA managers are part of decision-making, and their input often reveals new perspectives. Many of our staff struggle with social interaction and sensory issues, however at Aspiritech they find understanding and an environment that allows them to be themselves and be productive.

What we’ve come to realize is that many of the adaptations that we make for our employees are actually good for everyone. For example, we added a column titled “suggestion” to the bug reporting sheet. So I got a phone call from the CEO asking me to give him a call. I told him that our people who found the bug feel they own it. They know the severity, and they want to share their thoughts. He objected, and I told him “just don’t read it then.” It took him one or two weeks and then he said because of you we are going to add “suggestion” to all of our sheets.”

“The building is a shining example of what a not-for-profit can look like. A tech company that has very talented people doing meaningful work at a decent wage. ”

Photo: Mayor Daniel Biss of Evanston
Photo: Tara May

“This place not only celebrates neurodiversity, but it is a place where you can come and be exactly who you are. And there aren’t a lot of places like that in the world.”

“In my first two weeks so far I’ve been going on a listening tour, which means I’ve been spending about a half an hour with every single team member. I still have a few more to go. One of the most incredible things that I have learned through all of their stories is the way that they view Aspiritech as a community and a family. From several people I’ve heard, ‘Aspiritech is the first place I’ve ever felt like I fit in.’

What I am hoping to do going forward is lots of growth and innovation. But that part of Aspiritech, the people and that warm, welcoming community —  that we can never change. This place not only celebrates neurodiversity, but it is a place where you can come and be exactly who you are. And there aren’t a lot of places like that in the world.”

More photos from the Evanston ribbon-cutting ceremony:

Lead Donors:

The Coleman Foundation

The Harry and Jeannette Wienberg Foundation

Christopher L. and M. Susan Gust Foundation

A Home of Our Own Was Made Possible By:

The Coleman Foundation

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

Christopher L. and M. Susan Gust Foundation

Anonymous, In honor of Aspiritech’s amazing team

Anonymous

The Phyllis and Perry Schwartz Foundation

Jim and Joanne Steinback

Brenda and Moshe Weitzberg

Michele and Don Cronin

Brad and Jakee Cohen

In honor of Gail Henjum and her colleagues

Ron and Meridith Kaminski

Robert and Linda Lawrence

David and Karen Rappaport

Veronica Scotto

The Martin Geller and Lauren Schor Geller

Anonymous

In loving memory of Sara and Phil Markman

In honor of the Monogram Group team

Bernadette & Vivek Chopra

The Klaus family

Alan & Andi Berkowitz

Beverly and Myron Shapiro

Debicki Foundation

CME Group Foundation

 

 

 

Steven and Elise Henkels

Mike, Lauren, Lily and Charlotte Trumpy

Michael Duff and Chantal Forster

Winston Tsao

Brad Cohen

The Stein – Belrose Family

The Beres & Haring Family

The Eisenberg Family

Rachel Loftin, in honor of Theresa Thacker

Benjamin Prozinski

Ping He and Yun Zhang

In celebration of Constance Mar-Yohana, her loving father, Marc

Joan Costello

Rachelle Jervis in loving memory of Constance Jervis Mar-Yohana

Julien Fradier

Doppelt Family Gifting Fund

The Collins and Doerrer Families

In Honor of Brenda and Moshe Weitzberg, Laurence and Deborah Segil

Bruce Deichl

In honor of my dear daughter, Lauren Birnhak – Rita Morrin

Joyce and Jonathan Sapir

Carolyn and Ray Burton

Barbara and Peter Sereda

Dr. and Mrs. Michael and Lisa Foreman

Ron Brix

Carolyn and John Borta

Michael and Nina Blechman

The Lehman Family

Mary and Clark McCain

Michael O’Shields, in honor of Kyle

Bill and Susan Abrams

Jennifer Amdur Spitz

Joann Dinneen

Arieh Konigl, PhD

Hiral Chandrana

Alexander Knapp

Pamela Sanabria

Jane Bouzek

Susan Goldman

Suzanne Greenwald

Shari Reiches

Dr. John and Jean Beckerman

Ruth Sang

Shayna Foley

Paul Guggenheim

Gail Lovinger

Stuart Sadick

Mary Jane Bunzol

Roberta Thomas

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