Jon Spiers MA Hons

Jon joined Autistica in 2015. He leads the charity and is a trustee of the Autism Alliance and the Association of Medical Research Charities. He was Rising CEO at the Third Sector Awards 2017, INSAR Autism Advocate 2018 and IoD Charity Director (London and South) 2019. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and two daughters. A consultant specializing in innovative policy, public affairs, and media campaigns, he previously advised senior leaders in charities, pharmaceutical firms and biotech in areas including lung cancer, leukemia, genomics, HIV, meningitis, infectious diseases, and ADHD.

As Head of Public Affairs and Campaigning at Cancer Research UK he led the campaign for smoke-free legislation in England and Wales, a policy hailed as “the biggest step forward in public health for fifty years". With over 400,000 campaigners recruited, he successfully lobbied for national cancer plans, investment in cancer screening and putting tobacco out of sight in shops. He graduated in Linguistics from Cambridge University.