Dr. Denise Malone-Cash, DSL
Founder, Inclusion by Design.
Dr. Denise Malone-Cash, DSL, is the founder of Inclusion by Design, creator of the S.A.F.E. Score Framework™, creator of the Predictive Impact Assessment™, and author of The Disclosure Workbook: A Neurodivergent Strategy Guide to Navigating Workplace Accommodations and Disclosure Safety©.
Before founding Inclusion by Design, Denise built her career in corporate across operations, people leadership, HR, employee relations, and compliance, spanning multiple industries from retail and hospitality to financial services and regulatory oversight. A Milwaukee native now based in the Washington, DC metro area, Denise's career began in retail management on the operations floor, then into people leadership, where she learned how to think fast and on her feet, to react promptly, make decisions, and solve problems quickly and effectively. It was there that she managed people from all walks of life, and where her empathy grew the most. That experience shaped how she would later approach HR, employee relations, and compliance, not just as organizational functions, but as levers that either help people succeed or fail them. Understanding how policies are written and intended, and how they are actually experienced in practice, is the foundation of her work.
As a speaker and advocate for neurodiversity in the workplace, Denise has presented at national conferences such as the Kennedy Krieger Tapping Into Talent: Innovation and Opportunity Conference, has been a guest on several podcasts including the Inclusion On Demand Podcast, and leads ongoing community advocacy efforts including the Neurodivergent at Work Q&A series. She holds a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership (DSL), a master's in business management, a bachelor's in human resource management, and is a certified life coach pursuing a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.
This curiosity eventually led her into Human Resources and later Labor Relations, Employee Relations, and Compliance, where she improved functions, and approached policy development, investigations, performance management, and leadership coaching as interconnected systems that, when designed well, create workplaces where people and organizations thrive. Woven into all of it was the workplace accommodation process; it was here that she brought the same strategic lens, ensuring that what was legally required was also delivered with care. Every request represented a person trying to do their job, and she approached each one with a sense of urgency and empathy that she believed the process deserved.
After her own autism diagnosis, Denise required workplace accommodations. Entering the accommodation process herself, she experienced a stark contrast to how she had engaged in the interactive process as an employee relations professional. The care and urgency she gave others were noticeably absent when she needed them herself. This experience made one thing clear: a compliant workplace may not always be a safe one. An organization can meet every legal requirement and still be unsafe, unwelcoming, and inaccessible for neurodivergent talent. That realization led Denise to write The Disclosure Workbook: A Neurodivergent Strategy Guide to Navigating Workplace Accommodations and Disclosure Safety©, a practical guide that helps neurodivergent individuals decide whether, when, and how to disclose at work, with tools for disclosure planning, requesting accommodations, and assessing risk. It also led her to develop the S.A.F.E. Score Framework™, a diagnostic model that evaluates how workplace systems, culture, and norms support neurodivergent talent and provides organizational insight of where improvement may be necessary.
Denise believes the future of work is neurodiverse, and workplaces should be designed to reflect the future. She believes compliance is an organization's bare minimum and does not account for or equate to disclosure safety, psychological safety, or accessibility. Over a decade in HR and another decade in people leadership, Denise believes that people inherently want to do well in their jobs and need the tools and support to do it. Accessible policies, processes, and communication are fundamental to success, with or without a disability disclosure.
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