Neurodivergent-Led CIC Registered in England & Wales

We help neurodivergent people — and the organisations around them — build systems that actually work.

Intellectus Strategies CIC is a neurodivergent-led Community Interest Company. We provide practical support, training, and systems design for workplaces, and direct community support for adults waiting for an ADHD or autism assessment.

See Our Active Projects Who We Are

Why We Exist

Two real gaps. One organisation built to bridge them.

Neurodivergent people face two distinct challenges — one at work, one while waiting for support. Intellectus Strategies was built to address both.

Gap 01
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In the Workplace
Many workplaces aren't yet set up to support neurodivergent staff well — leading to burnout, high turnover, and lost potential.
Gap 02
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In the Community
NHS waiting times for ADHD and autism assessment can stretch to 5+ years — leaving adults, young people, and the families supporting them without guidance or tools in the meantime.
What Intellectus Strategies Does

We work with organisations to build more inclusive workplace systems. And we provide free, practical support to individuals and families who are in the waiting period — whether you're waiting for your own assessment, or supporting a child or young person through theirs.

About Us

A permanent organisation, not a one-off project.

Intellectus Strategies CIC was set up to provide ongoing, specialist support for neurodivergent people and the workplaces that employ them. We are not a campaign. We are not a short-term programme. We are a registered Community Interest Company with a long-term mission.

Think of us like the Red Cross — not defined by a single emergency response, but the organisation with the expertise and structure to keep responding as needs arise. Our specific programmes and projects may change over time. Our purpose does not.

Everything we do is rooted in lived experience and practical expertise. We know what it feels like to struggle in a system that wasn't designed for you — and we know what it takes to change that.

See Our Current Work →
5+ yrs
Average NHS Assessment Wait

In many parts of England and Wales, adults referred for ADHD or autism assessment wait over five years. That's a long time to go without answers or support.

1 in 5
People Are Neurodivergent

Around 20% of the UK population is neurodivergent — including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Most workplaces haven't yet caught up with what that means in practice.

£2.4bn
Annual Cost to UK Employers

The estimated annual cost of neurodivergent burnout to UK businesses — through absence, turnover, and reduced productivity. Better-designed workplaces reduce this significantly.

Our Current Work

Two programmes. One clear purpose.

Intellectus Strategies currently runs two active programmes. Each one addresses a specific, well-evidenced area of need. As we grow, new programmes will be added. The organisation behind them stays the same.

Programme — Workplace

The Workplace Programme

We work with employers to review and improve their workplace systems, communication, and management practices — so that neurodivergent employees can perform at their best without burning out.

We support HR teams, line managers, and leadership with practical audits, systems redesign, and skills-based training.

Learn More →
Programme — Community

The Community Programme

We provide free, practical tools and guidance for adults who are currently on an NHS waiting list for ADHD or autism assessment and need support in the meantime.

No referral needed. No diagnosis required. Just straightforward, accessible support for people who are waiting and struggling right now.

Learn More →

For Funders & Grant Bodies

Supporting lasting change, not just a single project.

Intellectus Strategies CIC is registered, neurodivergent-led, and built to grow. Grant funding helps us expand our community support, reach more employers, and develop new programmes as needs emerge. We welcome conversations with funders who want to see measurable, sustainable impact.

Funding Information →

Our Work

Practical support for workplaces and communities.

Intellectus Strategies runs two programmes — one working with employers, one supporting individuals in the community. Both are grounded in real experience and designed to make an immediate, practical difference.

Intellectus Strategies — Workplace Programme
Helping organisations support their neurodivergent staff
Now Open

Better workplace systems mean better outcomes for everyone.

Many organisations genuinely want to support their neurodivergent staff — but aren't sure where to start, or why their current approach isn't working. That's where we come in.

We work with organisations to identify where their day-to-day systems are creating unnecessary difficulty for neurodivergent employees. This is not about blame — it's about finding practical, affordable changes that make a real difference to how people work and how teams function.

Our work is grounded in lived experience. We know what it actually feels like to work in these environments, and we design our recommendations accordingly.

Intellectus Strategies — Community Programme
Supporting adults on the NHS assessment waiting list
Now Open

If you're waiting for a diagnosis, you don't have to wait for support.

In many areas of England and Wales, adults referred for ADHD or autism assessment wait more than five years to be seen. During that time, everyday life — work, relationships, managing tasks — carries on. And it can be incredibly hard.

Our Community Programme provides free, practical support for adults in this position. You do not need a diagnosis. You do not need a referral. You just need to be someone who is struggling and looking for tools that can help right now.

Everything we provide is designed to be immediately usable — not theory, not awareness, not validation alone. Practical tools that make a difference from day one.

Looking Ahead

As we grow, so does the support we can offer.

Intellectus Strategies is designed to expand over time — adding new programmes as new areas of need are identified and as our capacity grows. Our current two programmes are just the beginning. Funding and partnerships help us get there faster.

Funding & Partnership →

For Funders, Grant Bodies & Partners

Grant funding helps us reach more people and do more of what works.

Intellectus Strategies CIC is a registered, neurodivergent-led organisation working in two areas: supporting employers to build more inclusive workplaces, and providing free community support for adults awaiting ADHD or autism diagnosis.

Why We Need Funding

Our community work is free to access. That means it needs to be funded.

The Community Programme — which supports adults waiting for NHS diagnosis — is entirely free to use. There are no fees, no referrals, and no barriers to access. That is a deliberate choice. It is also why external funding is essential.

Without grant funding, we cannot develop new resources, train peer advocates, reach low-income communities, or sustain the programme long-term. Grant investment directly translates into more people getting support they would otherwise have to wait years for — or never access at all.

Our Workplace Programme generates some income, and that is reinvested into the organisation. But to grow the community side of our work, and to build the evidence base that demonstrates what we do works, we need grant partners who share our commitment to long-term, practical impact.

No diagnosis needed to access support

Being on a waiting list is enough. You do not need a formal diagnosis, a GP letter, or any documentation to use what we offer.

We are a CIC — legally accountable to our community

As a Community Interest Company, any profit we generate is reinvested into our mission. This is a legal requirement, not a marketing claim.

Neurodivergent-led means we understand from the inside

Our founder and team have lived experience of the challenges we work on. That shapes everything we design and deliver.

Active Projects Seeking Funding

Where your investment goes right now.

Each of these projects addresses a documented, evidenced gap in provision. Each is governed by Intellectus Strategies CIC. Each has a clear theory of change and measurable outcomes.

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The Workplace Project — Expansion

Scaling our employer engagement work to reach SMEs and public sector organisations who cannot currently access neuro-inclusive consultancy at a cost that reflects their budgets.

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The Community Project — Free Toolkit

Developing and distributing a fully free, accessible toolkit for adults in the diagnostic waiting period — particularly targeting low-income communities with no access to private support.

🗣️

Peer Advocate Training Programme

Training neurodivergent community members to deliver local, peer-led support — extending the reach of Intellectus expertise beyond what a single organisation can directly serve.

📊

Systems Research & Evidence Base

Funding the research infrastructure to document, measure, and publish the impact of neuro-inclusive systems change — building the evidence base for the field as a whole.

Ready to Talk?

We welcome conversations with funders, commissioners, and strategic partners.

Whether you are a national grant body, a local authority, an NHS trust, a philanthropic foundation, or an employer looking for a formal partnership — we want to hear from you. Use our booking system to schedule a 30-minute introductory call, or email us directly.

What we can provide to grant bodies:

  • Full organisational overview and CIC documentation
  • Project-level theory of change and outcomes framework
  • Evidence base and needs assessment for each active project
  • Financial governance information and reinvestment commitments
  • Community Impact Report (available on request)
  • References and professional network contacts

Who We Are

A registered organisation with a clear, lasting mission.

Intellectus Strategies CIC is a Community Interest Company, registered in England and Wales. We exist to support neurodivergent people and the organisations around them — through practical workplace programmes and free community support.

What We Are

More than a consultancy. A permanent community resource.

Intellectus Strategies was set up as a Community Interest Company — a specific legal structure in England and Wales that requires us to reinvest any profit into our community mission. This isn't a marketing commitment. It is written into our constitution and enforced by law.

This matters because it means our community support — including the free tools and guidance we provide to people on NHS waiting lists — is structurally protected. It cannot be deprioritised for commercial reasons.

We are neurodivergent-led. Our founder, Paulina Ellis, has lived experience of the challenges we work on. So does our wider team. That lived knowledge sits at the heart of everything we design and deliver.

Meet the Founder →

Our organisational values:

  • Practical over theoretical. Everything we produce is immediately usable. We don't do awareness for its own sake.
  • Plain language always. No jargon. No acronyms without explanation. If you can't understand it, it isn't working.
  • Lived experience is expertise. Professional qualifications matter. So does knowing this from the inside.
  • Accessible by design. Our website, our tools, and our sessions are built with neurodivergent users in mind — because that is who we serve.
  • Community before profit. Our CIC structure ensures this legally, not just in intention.

Understanding Our Legal Structure

What is a Community Interest Company?

A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a type of limited company designed for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the public good. CICs are regulated by the CIC Regulator and must pass an annual community interest test.

In practice, this means:

  • Our profits are locked — they must be reinvested into our community mission, not distributed to private shareholders
  • We produce an annual Community Interest Report, which is publicly available
  • Our articles of association set out our community purpose, and we cannot change that without regulatory approval
  • We are subject to independent oversight — our commitments are verifiable, not just stated

For grant bodies and funders, this structure provides an additional layer of assurance that investment in Intellectus Strategies CIC will be used as intended.

Funding & Partnership →

Meet the Founder

From survival to strategy — and back to help others do the same.

The High-Performer Nobody Could See

I ran operations for a UK consulting company. I was a certified trainer and coach. I led teams and delivered complex projects. From the outside, I looked like the perfect high-performer.

Behind the scenes, I was barely holding it together.

I'd deliver exceptional work for months — then completely crash. I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't start simple tasks. I felt like a fraud who was about to be found out. Then I'd bounce back, perform brilliantly again, and the cycle would repeat.

Mastering the Art of Hiding

I became expert at concealing the struggle. I learned every method available to mask the fact that my brain worked differently. I perfected the art of looking competent while drowning internally.

I tried therapy. I tried coaching — ironic, given I was a coach. I tried working harder, sleeping better, eating well, and managing my time more efficiently. None of it worked. Because my brain wasn't broken. The way I was being asked to work was broken.

The Breaking Point — And the Breakthrough

Eventually, I realised something: the crashes weren't random. They happened when I had to start a project with no clear structure. When I was working in chaos with too many competing priorities. When the systems around me assumed I could "just remember" everything.

So I stopped trying to fix myself and started fixing the systems around me. I became driven to understand which workplace setups made it impossible for me to function — and which ones let me thrive. That forensic process became the foundation of the Neuro-Discipline Roadmap, and ultimately, Intellectus Strategies CIC.

Why a CIC, Not a Consultancy

I could have built a consultancy. I chose to build a Community Interest Company, and that distinction is not cosmetic.

A CIC is a legal structure with constitutional obligations. Our profits are reinvested in our community mission — not because it sounds good in copy, but because it is the law. The work I care most about — supporting adults in the diagnostic waiting period, providing free tools to people without resources, advocating for structural change in workplaces — needed to be ring-fenced from pure commercial logic. A CIC is that ring-fence.

The Founding Principle

Everything Intellectus Strategies does is built on one assumption: neurodivergent people are not the problem. We don't offer coping strategies that are better masking techniques with friendlier branding. We don't run awareness days that change nothing on Monday morning. We redesign the infrastructure. We fix the system. We build the scaffold.

That is what this organisation is for.

Work With Intellectus Strategies

Whether you're an employer, a funder, or someone who needs support — this is where it starts.

Every relationship with Intellectus Strategies begins the same way: a 30-minute conversation. No prep required. No commitment expected. Just a clear-eyed look at whether and how we can help.

What happens next.

Book your slot

Choose a 30-minute time that works for you using the booking panel. No back-and-forth. No phone tag.

We talk systems, not symptoms

We use the session to understand your specific context — your team, your tools, your friction points. No prep needed on your end.

You receive a plain-English summary

Within 48 hours, you'll receive a short written summary of what we discussed and at least three concrete things you can change immediately.

No obligation to go further

The audit is genuinely free. You're not being walked into a sales funnel. If you want to continue working together, we'll talk about that separately.

For grant enquiries & partnerships.

If you're a funder, local authority, or NHS trust interested in discussing partnership or grant funding for our community advocacy work, please use the booking system to request a 30-minute introductory call — or email us directly.

Accessibility

If you need the session in a different format — written questions in advance, a slower pace, text-based communication, or anything else — just let us know when you book. We will always accommodate. We mean that.