Mary Partin

Pioneer in Quality-of-Life Technology

Life’sPilot is led by someone who has spent decades building what autism support is supposed to look like when it works in real life. For 35 years, Mary Partin has focused her leadership on improving quality of life for individuals with autism and their families, including 25 years as CEO of the Dan Marino Foundation. That work shaped the way she leads Life’sPilot: practical support, powered by technology, built to strengthen independence.

Across her career, Mary has helped create and scale technology-driven programs that support education, employment readiness, and real-life skill building, using tools like extended reality and artificial intelligence to remove barriers that families face every day. She established the Marino Autism Research Institute at Vanderbilt University and helped launch Marino Campus programs in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, expanding post-secondary opportunities for students with autism.

Mary also spearheaded major initiatives backed by organizations such as Google, Magic Leap, and the Embassy of Qatar, and brought that experience into broader systems work through roles on Florida’s Governor’s Autism Task Force and President Obama’s Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee. She has shared this work on national and global stages, including the United Nations and leading education and technology forums.

That combination of long-term autism leadership and real-world technology implementation is what makes her the right person to help Life’sPilot close the support gap at scale.