Autism Cymru: Dame Steve Shirley to address Institute of Directors

Thursday, 10 May 2007 12:00 AM

Dame Stephanie Shirley is to address the Institute of Directors at a lunchtime talk at the Royal Hotel in Cardiff on Monday 21 May.

Dame Stephanie is a well known in the world of business but is also associated with many of the influential projects in the world of autism including setting up the Shirley Foundation which established Autism Cymru, Wales' National Charity for Autism.
The theme of her talk will be her life since arriving in the United Kingdom from Germany as an unaccompanied child refugee. She later went on to establish one of the world's leading business technology groups and change the status of women within the hi-technology sector.

The Shirley Foundation is today one of the top 50 grant-giving foundations in the UK.

She is today one of the most inspiring businesswomen in the country.

Hugh Morgan Chief Executive of Autism Cymru said, 'We are delighted that Dame Steve has agreed to address the Institute of Directors. Her life is truly remarkable and I know IoD members will be impressed at her achievements both personal and business'.

Cost for the lunch is £25 for members and £3O for non-members. To book a place contact Debbie Trotman on O29 2O38999O or email iod.wales@iod.com.

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Notes:

Autism Cymru is Wales' National Charity for Autism with offices in Aberystwyth, Cardiff and Wrexham.

Dame Stephanie Shirley is indelibly associated with some of the most influential projects to occur in the world of autistic spectrum disorders over the past decade. Arriving unaccompanied in Britain as a five year old refugee from Germany in 1939, she eventually established one of the world's leading business technology groups, Xansa, and through pioneering work practices changed the position of women within the hi-technology sector. With a firmly held belief in successful business people giving something back to society, Dame Stephanie set up the charitable Shirley Foundation which is today one of the top 50 grant-giving foundations in the UK. Her interest in autism stems from her autistic son - Giles, who died aged 35 in 1998. The Shirley Foundation has initiated a number of projects that are pioneering in nature and strategic in impact, and her biggest challenge yet is the funding and development of global science research project to find the causes of autism by 2014 and halve its global costs by 2020. Following wide consultation in Wales by The Shirley Foundation during the late 1990s, Autism Cymru, a dedicated national Welsh charity was established with a start-up grant from the Foundation.

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