About Us

A founder’s story about seeing what others couldn’t; and choosing to change it

CognAlign began with a simple truth that Simon Preston could no longer ignore:

too many neurodivergent people were surviving their workplaces, not thriving in them.

For years, Simon moved through education and organisational life carrying questions he didn’t yet have language for, Why did some environments feel safe and energising, while others drained the life out of people? Why did brilliant colleagues burn out, disengage, or disappear? Why did systems designed to support staff so often miss the mark?

It wasn’t until much later, through his own neurodivergent identity and leadership journey, that the pattern became unmistakable.

The problem was never the people.

It was the structures, the pressures, the unspoken rules, and the invisible expectations shaping their daily experience.

CognAlign was born from that realisation, and from a commitment to help leaders see what Simon had spent years learning to see for himself.

Clients describe Simon as:

• “One of the most impactful speakers I have ever attended.”

• “A truly powerful session that transformed colleagues’ understanding.”

• “An open, engaging leader who creates inclusive workplaces where people thrive.”

• “Reflective, insightful, and deeply human.”

Those words matter because they reflect the heart of this work.

Simon doesn’t enter organisations to deliver a talk and leave.

He enters to listen, to understand, and to help leaders make sense of the hidden dynamics shaping their workforce. He creates spaces where people feel safe enough to ask the questions they’ve been carrying for years, and brave enough to imagine something better.

CognAlign’s approach blends lived experience, systems thinking, and evidence‑based inquiry to reveal the structural patterns that often go unseen: the friction points, the enabling conditions, the cultural signals that determine whether neurodivergent staff feel valued or vulnerable.

This isn’t about awareness.

It’s about alignment, between values and practice, between people and systems, between intention and impact.

Today, CognAlign partners with both public and private organisations across the UK and Ireland to build cultures where neurodivergent staff can thrive, not just cope.

Because when leaders truly understand their people, they make better decisions, and the whole organisation becomes a place where everyone can breathe a little easier.