“The call to action is to start looking at the neurodiverse community and recognize that there is this incredible group of people…and they need to be invested in.”
In this conversation,
Devon Tilly and co-host
Matt McMullen chat with
Danny Combs about the construction workforce, the trades, and the autistic community in Colorado!
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Danny is a leading voice in creating equitable futures for neurodistinct individuals in business and equality of opportunity for the entire disability community. Mr. Combs is the inaugural Director of the Colorado Disability Opportunity Office, Colorado’s senior strategic and policy agency housed in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, working with the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to help make Colorado the best state in the country for people with disabilities. He is the founder of TACT (Teaching the Autism Community Trades), the state of Colorado’s leading transition to employment and training organization, and the co-founder of the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce, the first neurodiverse chamber in the country. Danny has brought together over 100 businesses to build better opportunities, pay, and career advancement for neurodistinct individuals. His organizations have raised tens of millions in funding to create scholarships to serve all socioeconomic classes. In addition to being a leader in the community, Danny has worked with multiple Grammy and Oscar-winning artists, and the music program he developed in Nashville won a Grammy Enterprise Award. Mr. Combs is also an Air Force Reservist who serves his country in the 4th Space Warning Squadron and the 42nd Combat Training Squadron in the 310th Space Wing. His leadership, community development, and social innovation have been recognized in the White House and Pentagon on NBC, ABC, PBS, CBS, Fox, the Denver Business Journal, Epoch Times, News Nation, Classy, and more. In 2024, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Citizen Honor Award. With his dedication to the community, Danny is also a Senior Fellow at the Community Impact Policy Institute in New York, a board member of Florida-based HAAPE, a Co-Chair of the NeurodiverseAF, a committee member for the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council on Buckley Space Force Base, an Advisory Member for Career and Technical (CTE) Education, and part of the Employment Taskforce for the Autism Society of America. Finally, he has been published multiple times on his thoughts, practices, and leadership about community development, social innovation, transition, autism, and employment. His book “Supporting Neurodivergent and Autistic People for Their Transition into Adulthood, Blueprints for Education, Training, and Employment” reached number 1 on
Amazon.com. Most importantly, he’s a father of two amazing kids.
Read Danny's book: Supporting Neurodivergent and Autistic People for Their Transition into Adulthood: Blueprints for Education, Training, and Employment! Purchase at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.
Danny Combs in the press: