Hannah Whitfield

Hannah Whitfield is a neurodivergent creative activist, consultant, and founder of Legally Detained, a lived-experience-led platform transforming survival into power through art, activism, and unapologetic storytelling. Her work sits at the intersection of creative industries, mental health reform, and youth leadership, challenging ableism and tokenism while advocating for genuine, trauma-informed inclusion.

Drawing on lived experience of autism, ADHD, PDA and complex trauma, Hannah works with charities, arts organisations, and policy spaces to centre neurodivergent and marginalised voices as leaders of change. She has collaborated with organisations including Mind, the National Autistic Society, Beat, the PDA Society, and Chickenshed Theatre, delivering consultancy, workshops, performances, and public speaking.

Through spoken word, theatre-making, peer research, and digital campaigns - including her developing musical Rulebook to Society and the No Longer Legally Detained podcast - Hannah transforms personal narrative into systemic critique. Her leadership journey began in systems that wrote her off; today, she uses creative disruption and radical honesty to reshape them.

Hannah believes survival is not the ceiling - it is the starting point.

You can follow Hannah on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn and find out more about Legally Detained here.