Judith Ursitti is cofounder and president of Profound Autism Alliance. A CPA by training, she spent a decade working in tax accounting. She became immersed in autism advocacy in 2005 when her son, Jack, was diagnosed at age 2.
Since his diagnosis, she has worked on the passage, implementation, and enforcement of autism insurance reform as part of the three-person team that passed legislation in all 50 states. She has advocated federally for the original 2006 passage and subsequent reauthorizations of the Autism CARES Act and appropriate enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
Judith worked for Autism Speaks as their director of state government affairs for over a decade and served on the Massachusetts Autism Commission, where she co-chaired the Commission's 14-22/Employment Subcommittee. Most recently, she served as vice president of government affairs at the Council of Autism Service Providers.
She is the recipient of the Margaret Bauman, MD Award for Excellence within the Autism Community, the Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts Commitment to Advocacy Award, the Autism Advocacy in Action Award from the Long Island Behavior Analysis Conference, the Oklahoma Autism Network's Excellence in Autism Award, UMass Medical School's Autism Insurance Resource Champion Award, Autism Science Foundation's Caryn Schwartzman Spirit Award, and the Autism Law Summit's Parent Advocate of the Year award. She has also run ten marathons, including seven Bostons, fundraising for various autism-related charities.
Judith grew up in Texas and remains a Texan at heart, but lives outside Boston with her family.
