Jenny Dearborn

Jenny Dearborn, current Chief Learning Officer at global tech company SAP, overcame more than the gender gap associated with STEM careers to be where she is now. She also struggles with severe dyslexia, ADHD, and mild OCD. Her early schooling was accompanied by difficulties in reading and paying attention in the classroom. Dearborn was placed in special education classes, where she was told to run off her abounding energy so she could focus better on her work.

It wasn’t until junior college that Dearborn was diagnosed with her learning disabilities. Away from the negative academic atmosphere of her early schooling, she learned, with the aid of books on tape, how to train her eyes and brain to recognize patterns in letters that helped her read better. She also determined that she couldn’t learn visually, but was a great aural learner. The more Dearborn discovered in college how to learn and excel with her learning disabilities, the more she wanted to help others see their learning disabilities as an advantage. Dearborn has achieved that goal-- first as a high school teacher, and now as the Chief Learning Officer of SAP. She hopes to encourage young minds to pursue a career in STEM fields, regardless of gender or learning disability.

Read and interview with Jenny Dearborn where she discusses her career and learning disabilities here, or check out other successful business dyslexics on our site here at DyslexiaHelp.