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The Kimel Foundation Team
We're the passionate people behind Kimel Foundation. Get to know the faces who make it happen.
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The Kimel Foundation believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to shine. Our passionate team is dedicated to helping neurodivergent individuals achieve their full potential in the workforce.
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We are a unique group brought together to bridge the gap between the neurodiverse community and the world of employment.
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Our team members come from a variety of backgrounds, including neurodivergent individuals themselves, experienced consultants and mental health professionals. This blend of knowledge and perspective allows us to provide tailored support for each individual we work with.
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We understand the challenges faced by the neurodiverse community in the workplace. Our team is here to offer guidance, support, and encouragement every step of the way.
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Our ultimate goal is to empower neurodivergent individuals to secure meaningful employment and achieve their career aspirations.
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Together, we are working to create a world where everyone has the opportunity to shine.
Finding and developing the genius in us all
Nic Lander
Founder & Director
Nic is the owner of Willy Wonka Travel, the only certified Autism Travel professional in the UK.
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He’s worked in travel for over 30 years as a concierge in London. He won an Acorn Award aged 25 and was the first concierge in the UK to receive this award, which is for young aspiring hotel staff and recognises the brightest prospects in the hospitality industry.
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He was one of the youngest concierges to be appointed onto the executive committee of the Le Clefs d’Or (The Golden Keys) for Great Britain and the Commonwealth.
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His mission is to make all types of travel accessible to people with additional needs.
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He has a family diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), so his firsthand experience of living with autism paired with years in the travel industry enables him to offer this unique service because he understands the details that make a difference.
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Volunteering at Share Wokingham, a zero waste food project helping to eliminate food poverty in Wokingham, also allowed him to look to open a zero food waste community café to give young people valuable work experience
Shantie Toolsie
Director
Shantie moved from America in the Autumn of 2020 fulfilling a lifelong dream to live in Europe. She currently works as a Finance Specialist for the WBC and spends about 20% of her time volunteering for local and international charities.
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She has worked for various financial institutions in America as a Statistician responsible for developing risk based statistical models and strategies. She also consulted to Coco Cola, Pepsi, Budweiser, Philip Morris and Clairol. She taught Statistics at Michigan State University and Boyce Community College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is also an avid sports fan; she loves her American and English football the most.
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Her passion for mathematics combined with her commitment to helping the less privileged led her in 2010, after 18 years in the financial sector, to start her own charity, Math at No Cost. A charity that provides free maths resources to students in primary schools in economically challenged areas of Chicago and later in Denver. She has touched the lives of so many primary school students in Chicago and Denver.
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In 2009, she decided to redirect her passion and priority toward the education and development of her only child. She spent 2 years gathering and analysing data, travelling to cities, touring schools, meeting with educators and residents to find the BEST place to raise their daughter. At one point, she even considered Iceland! The place she eventually settled on was Superior, CO. With her daughter and her daughter’s education the #1 priority she seized an opportunity to put everything in place to establish a boutique private school, Rock Creek School which she launched in 2015 focusing on quality education by keeping the classroom size to 12 students. After 5 years, the school was closed in 2020 when she moved to Wokingham!
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You can find Shantie and her family every Saturday at the Kimel Café; connecting with the community and sharing the mission of the café with the customers.
Chris Richards
Director
Chris Richards qualified from Liverpool University in 1975 as a dental surgeon. He has worked in practices in England, Germany and Australia before retiring in 2014. He was trained by the University of Oxford Postgraduate Medical Department as a mentor to help struggling doctors and dentists. Finding that retirement didn’t agree with him he started work in the field of autism support in Leicester-based charity and founded the Kimel Foundation with Nic in 2019.
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Chris was himself diagnosed as autistic in 2017 which shed a light on the issues he had faced and provided a lot of answers. He possibly also has ADHD so can identify with these we are supporting.
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Chris is chiefly engaged with research and governance making sure everything is done as it should be and that Kimel is keeping up with the latest peer reviewed research, support and delivery.