Unstoppable: How Jennifer Chassman Browne Of New Ground Educational Consulting Has Redefined Success While Navigating Society After A Severe Stroke
An interview with Kelly Reeves
Get to know us for who we are, apart from our disability. We’re all unique people in spite of our common characteristic as people with disabilities.
As a part of our “Unstoppable” series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Chassman Browne.
Jennifer has a background in education, working for 25 years, first as an English teacher and then as a school leader. Three years ago, after furthering her own training by earning certifications from Cornell, the University of Minnesota, and Harvard, she founded New Ground Educational Consulting, and has focused her efforts on fostering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in schools and organizations.
Jennifer was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when she was 6 years old, and as an adult, she has worked to develop opportunities for education, advocacy, and allyship, and has also spoken about disability and inclusion at schools and organizations across the country.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is really an honor. Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
When it comes to my profession, I have worked as a teacher and school leader for the past 25 years. I didn’t really plan on teaching, but when I was in graduate school studying philosophy and medical ethics, I started teaching and loved being in the classroom with students. It was challenging and exciting and I never knew exactly where the conversations and discussions with students would take us.
That said, I had been a shy high school student and had appreciated the teachers who made the effort to know and support me, and I realized that I wanted to do that for other students as well. I taught high school for 13 years before I was encouraged to move into school leadership.
Even though I wasn’t in the classroom anymore, I chose roles that still connected me with students and teachers and gave me the opportunity to be in the classroom. I had various roles from Associate Head to Academic Director, and worked in this capacity for 10 years.
At about the time that Covid arrived, I had been focusing more of my efforts on addressing issues related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging, and I took the leap and decided to start my own consulting company.
New Ground Educational Consulting allows me to work with a variety of organizations to create spaces that include us all. My focus in this work is really to help people to understand each other and to value the diversity of life experiences that we have, as well as to recognize the challenges that many of us face, and to work to mitigate such challenges. It’s hard work, but it’s joyful! I balance it with writing (I’m a spoken-word poet and have a novel in process), and art. I really enjoying working with glass, epoxy, and wood.
Do you feel comfortable sharing with us the story surrounding how you became disabled or became ill?
I have lived with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis for as long as I can remember. When I was about 6 years old, I started feeling sore and tired at the end of each day, and began experiencing pain, stiffness, and swelling, in my joints and especially in my knees. I was diagnosed with JRA and had to take medication and wear braces at night. I used to have to take aspirin and prednisone each day, and to get gold shots each week. I think these are treatments that are no longer used, but this was what I experienced from about age 6 to age 13. None of these treatments made me happy, yet In spite of that, I was an active child who really loved soccer and basketball.
As a teenager, I was give the opportunity to stop taking these medications, and I haven’t had to take medication since. My illness, however, is progressive, so I have become visibly disabled in the last few years.
What mental shift did you make to not let that “stop you”?
There have been a few different mental shifts for me. When I was young, I was an athlete and didn’t want the JRA to stop me, so I decided to just try to stay active and to do as much as I could to be able to continue playing sports. This attitude and determination has stayed with me. That said, at about the age of 40, I had to make another shift because the Arthritis became more limiting as I was getting older. The shift that I had to make at this point in my life was to look for ways to be active, positive, and healthy in spite of the growing physical limitations that I had. I also had to accept that my disability was becoming more limiting. I got a service dog to help me, and accepted that I would sometimes need to use a cane. I also can’t do all that I used to do, so I’ve had to shift to activities that I can accomplish. It’s been a challenging process to redefine my sense of self and to accept these limitations, while still trying to move forward and to work around them.
Can you tell our readers about the accomplishments you have been able to make despite your disability or illness?
Despite my disability, I have been able to remain active. I also have been able to start my own business and make connections with others who are living with disabilities. I feel like I bring disability awareness into all of the work that I do. Too often, in DEI work, disabilities are not part of the conversation. I help the people with whom I work to consider how we can create a world that is more inclusive of all people, including people with disabilities.
What advice would you give to other people who have disabilities or limitations?
I would want other people with disabilities to know their value. We all have great things to offer, and we need to look for ways to use or overcome our limitations to help us to live satisfying lives. Everyone has something that limits them, and success asks that we simply move forward even with the limitations that we have.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
My husband, Kevin, sees me and accepts me for all that I am, including my challenges and limitations, which he often says that he doesn’t see as limitations at all. He has helped me to accept myself. I would also say that I’m grateful for the hundreds of students and colleagues with whom I’ve worked. They inspire me and help me to feel that what I do has great value. Olivia, Shannon, Helaina, Jeremy, Natalie, Bonnie, Monica, Nimalee, Nolan, Lori, Dana …to name a few.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Certainly I hope that I have brought goodness to the world by encouraging, loving, and supporting so many students and educators. I am also intentional about making sure that my success allows me the opportunity to support others, especially others with disabilities and others who are engaged in DEI work. I volunteer with the Independent Living Resource Center and the SLO Climate Coalition. I also joined Diversability, and work to support others who are part of this community.
Can you share “5 things I wish people understood or knew about people with physical limitations” and why.
1 . We want to be seen as people first, and not as people with disabilities or limitations.
2 . We’ve learned to live with and overcome our limitations, and are strong, creative, and resilient as a result.
3 . We can sometimes get tired of being asked if we need help. Understand that we may have been asked many times that day, and be patient with us if our answer comes with some frustration.
4 . Get to know us for who we are, apart from our disability. We’re all unique people in spite of our common characteristic as people with disabilities.
5 . What might look to you like struggling is sometimes just how I do things. I may walk awkwardly, or climb stairs in a funny way, but I want to do if for myself, so don’t assume that I need help, and please don’t judge me for the way that I accomplish things independently.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?
My favorite “Life-Lesson quote is, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences” -Audre Lorde. I love this quote because it speaks to me as a person and as a person with a disability. I think that we all share so much in both our similarities and our differences, and if we can appreciate both, we can be better for and to each other.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this 🙂
I would love to be able to have a meal with Dolly Parton! Dolly has been a hero of mine for many years. While she’s known for her musical ability and her ability to entertain, I believe that she has held to her humble roots and really understands what it’s like to live simply, and she has used that understanding to help so many people. I know that she supports helping young people to read and to pursue their educations. I also know that she makes donations to so many organizations and has seen it as her role to help others. I hope that I can get to thank her personally for all that she does!
Thank you so much for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you continued success and good health!
About The Interviewer: Kelly Reeves is a published writer, copy editor, speaker, and certified entrepreneurship and personal growth coach. She is passionate about working with entrepreneurs and executives over 50 to help them discover their life’s purpose, unlock their full potential, and thrive in the second half of life. As an award-winning public relations professional with multi-industry knowledge Kelly worked with global brands, startups and media personalities including the Tony Hawk Foundation, Barrett-Jackson, Targus, Kingston, WD, and Howard Stern. Kelly successfully launched a variety of consumer electronics and B2B brands and executed highly successful PR and social media campaigns. With an average track record of generating more than 50 million media impressions on a monthly basis, she placed clients in leading media outlets such as InStyle, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNet, TechCrunch, AllThingsD and Mashable; and landed spots on high profile programs such as Extra, the Today Show, ABC News, CNN and Good Morning America. She also played an integral role in helping clients increase sales revenue by over 350%. Her community service includes mentoring students in the Masters of Entrepreneurship Program at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. She also mentors students in the College of Communications at California State University, Fullerton. Kelly serves as the Co-Founder and President of Paw Prints in the Sand Animal Rescue, a 501c3 animal welfare organization where she oversees the operations, donor relations, and marketing and PR strategy.
Unstoppable: How Jennifer Chassman Browne Of New Ground Educational Consulting Has Redefined… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.