Jairo Arana began his journey as a self-advocate after a late autism diagnosis. He participated in the University of Miami – Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disability’s (UM-NSU CARD) Jobseekers Program. He was recommended to participate in the University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development’s Project SALT (Self-Advocate Leadership Training) Program. After graduating the SALT Program, he became a trainer for Project SALT and a consultant for the UM Mailman Center for Child Development. He was also the UM Mailman Center for Child Development’s first LEND (Leadership Education in Neuro-developmental Disabilities) Self-advocate trainee. He graduated from UM Mailman Center’s ETLP (Emerging Transformational Leadership Program, under LEND) and participated in the Florida DD Network Collaborative Leadership Program. He won the UM-NSU CARD Outstanding Self-Advocate Award for 2019. He is a member of the Mailman Advisory Committee (MAC), a constituency board member at UM-NSU CARD, was previously a constituency board member for Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK), and is now a member of the SPARK DEI Advisory Board. He’s presented as a guest panelist at conferences which include the Annual CARD Conference, the AUCD Conference, and is dedicated to advocating for others in the disability community. He holds Bachelors Degrees of Arts and Science in Communication in Motion Pictures and English, Creative Writing, from University of Miami and works full-time at the UM Mailman Center as a Clinical Program Coordinator and assists with UM Mailman Center’s pipeline leadership program which includes Project SALT, LEND, and ETLP.