Member Webinar: Neurodiversity Awareness Month 2025

René Brooks is a late-life ADHD success story. After being diagnosed 3 times as a child (age 7, 11, and 25), she was finally able to get the treatment she deserved. René decided that her passion for helping others should be put toward people with this disorder who are struggling in silence or shame. She started Black Girl, Lost Keys to empower black women with ADHD and show them how to live well with the condition.

Belinda Deridder has been with Mars for 15 years, initially joining as an executive assistant. She has supported senior leadership teams across Petcare, Chocolate, and Food and now serves as Legal Co-pilot for the European Mars Pet Nutrition team.

In 2021, after her 5-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Belinda became a Neurodiversity Ally. Motivated by her personal experiences and insights, Belinda took the lead in driving Neuro-Inclusion at Mars.

Belinda founded NeuroConnect, the first Neurodiversity Associate Resource Group (ARG) at Mars. Under her leadership, NeuroConnect launched a successful “Neurodiversity at Mars” campaign in 2023, raising awareness of neurodiversity and offering training for all associates. This initiative grew the group from 5 to over 100 members within 18 months.

In 2024, Belinda received the #FlipTheStatusQuo associate recognition award for her contributions as a change maker at Mars.

Jess Kramer is Director, Event Programming at Seramount, developing impactful live experiences that shift mindsets and accelerate inclusion. At Seramount, she leads the content curation and manages programming for Seramount’s annual member and non-member marquee events advocating for diversity, equity & inclusion in the workplace. She determines program themes, designs and develops agendas, and identifies, secures, and preps 100+ speakers annually for Seramount’s virtual and in-person conferences that reach audiences of up to 2,000 people each across a wide variety of industries.

Jess is also a writer and public speaker on the topics of neurodiversity and disability inclusion in the workplace. Prior to working in events and management consulting, she worked as a writer, researcher, and editor.

Based in Brooklyn, NY, Jess enjoys live music, theater, and dancing; walking dogs at her local animal shelter; escaping the city to hike, kayak, and swim; and traveling around the world.