Zoe Gross

Who Zoe Gross is

Zoe Gross is Director of Advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), a US-based nonprofit disability rights organisation run by and for autistic people, headquartered in Washington, D.C. In her role she oversees publications, communications, programmes, social media, and grassroots advocacy. Prior to joining ASAN, she worked as a special assistant at the Administration for Community Living and as a policy analyst on Senator Tom Harkin's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee staff. In 2012 she created the annual Disability Day of Mourning vigil, a national cross-disability event commemorating disabled people murdered by family members or caregivers, for which she received a White House Champions of Change award in 2013. She is known for arguing that autistic people must be centred in policy decisions that affect them, and for advocating for the expansion of home- and community-based services for disabled people.

References for this biography

1. 1.Who We Are – Autistic Self Advocacy Network — Confirms Zoe Gross's current title as Director of Advocacy at ASAN, her prior roles, and her founding of the Disability Day of Mourning.
2. 2.White House Honors Young Disability 'Champions' – Disability Scoop — Independently confirms Gross received a White House Champions of Change award in 2013 for founding the Disability Day of Mourning.
3. 3.ASAN Congratulates 2013 Champions of Change – Autistic Self Advocacy Network — Confirms Gross's attendance and speech at the 2013 White House Champions of Change event.
4. 4.Autism parenting advice: Advocate Zoe Gross offers tips and best practices – Slate — Confirms her role, background, and her management of ASAN's operations department including communications and grassroots advocacy.
5. 5.The Evolution of an Autism Self-Advocate – Psychology Today — Confirms Gross's advocacy for home- and community-based services and her role in developing ASAN's congressional advocacy work.
6. 6.Zoe Gross – AHRC Nassau speaker profile — Independently confirms prior roles at Administration for Community Living and Senator Harkin's HELP Committee staff.

Notable achievements

• Founded the annual Disability Day of Mourning vigil in 2012, a national cross-disability event commemorating disabled people murdered by family members or caregivers. Source ↗
• Received a White House Champions of Change award in 2013 for her work founding the Disability Day of Mourning. Source ↗
• Recognised at the White House Champions of Change ceremony as one of eight young disability advocates honoured on the eve of the ADA anniversary, 25 July 2013. Source ↗

What Zoe Gross has said

• “On all of our platforms, we immediately directed our community to alternative sources of public health information, sources that aren't under attack by conspiracy thinking or anti-science approaches.”

  director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘It becomes my whole job’: autism advocates fight RFK Jr’s barrage of misinformation ↗

• “"There's not many autistic people there, fewer than even the fraudulent IACC has, which isn't a good look."”

  director of advocacy at Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · Independent autism committee that challenges RFK Jr’s overhaul draws criticism ↗

• “When you look at it, one thing after another, you can really realize how overwhelming it has been for those of us who are in the autism trenches trying to combat this misinformation and stigmatizing language and these bad decisions, as well as how dedicated this government is to spreading misinformation and to pursuing policies that damage public health.”

  director of advocacy at ASAN · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · US ‘drowning in misinformation’ under RFK Jr, autism advocates say ↗

Where Zoe Gross has been quoted

1. ‘It’s quite useless to us’: what autistic people actually want from the Trump administrationtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. ‘It becomes my whole job’: autism advocates fight RFK Jr’s barrage of misinformationtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Independent autism committee that challenges RFK Jr’s overhaul draws criticismtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. US ‘drowning in misinformation’ under RFK Jr, autism advocates saytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Wiltshire SEND Reform Plan approved by Department for Education: Parents and carers invited to webinar to find out moreWiltshire Council
• Have your say on proposed changes to post-16 SEND transportCumberland Council
• Buddy Walk helping support people with Down’s SyndromeABC27

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/who-we-are/

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.