At the Oxford College of Emory University in November 2017, Holly Shan chartered the Oxford Emory Autism Awareness Organization (AAO) with a group of fantastic friends: Alyssa Forsyth, Erin Neely, Griffin Wickwire, Julian McCarthy, Larisa Kohen, Charlotte Wang, Bella George, Titus Hood, and Matt Hentschel. They were all passionate about taking action to educate their peers, community, and provide resources for individuals and allies of autism. 

 

        When Holly arrived at the Atlanta Campus in January 2019, she got in touch with her professors, Dr. Saulnier and Dr. Siller (who are also at the Marcus Autism Center), to be advisors for Emory's chapter of AAO. In August 2019, Holly and Alyssa met Dr. Catherine Rice, director of the Emory Autism Center who taught them a course about neurodiversity. Ever since, the AAO has been working closely with both autism centers as well as tackling projects related to service, politics, and awareness.

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        Since then, our President Henry Blair has been leading a group of dedicated students to continually provide resources for individual with ASD and becoming an NRF chartered organization. Through this charter, we are able to amplify our voices and reach even more students affected by ASD or wanting to learn about neurodiversity.