Jonathan Mooney, a nationally recognized advocate for neurological and physical diversity, delivered Carleton’s convocation address on Friday, October 3, from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address, “Normal Sucks and the Right to Be Different,” explores themes of reimagining education to acknowledge and embrace neurodiversity. Mooney is an award-winning writer, entrepreneur, and activist who has spoken for audiences ranging from kindergartners to corporate executives to inmates, with the goal of challenging the norms of learning.

Mooney, who spent his early school years in special education, often faced harsh criticisms from those around him. Diagnosed with dyslexia, Mooney didn’t learn to read until he was twelve years old. Yet from the age of nine, he said that he wanted to be a writer. On his website, Mooney reflects on how his third-grade teacher, Mr. R., gave him advice that has stuck with him: “I told him that I wanted to be a writer because I loved to tell and listen to stories, but I didn’t think I could really do that because I couldn’t spell. I was nine years old, and Mr. R. looked right at me and said, ‘Screw spelling.’ As my editors will attest, I have followed Mr. R.’s advice.”

After graduating from Brown University with an honors degree in English literature, he wrote his first book at just 23 years old. To date, Mooney has published three books: Learning Outside the Lines (2000), The Short Bus (2007), and Normal Sucks (2019), all of which celebrate learning from diverse perspectives and the ups and downs of an unconventional educational experience.

Mooney has won quite a few awards for his writing. He received the Harry S. Truman Fellowship for Public Service, and he was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship, as well as for an LA Achievement Award from the Lab School of Washington — where he got to go on stage with President Joe Biden. Mooney’s intellectual contributions include a short essay he wrote for The Brown Reader, as well as features in and on HBO, NPR, The New York Times, NBC, Fast Company, and many other media outlets.

Mooney’s impact encompasses more than just writing, however; he is a visionary for social change and justice as exemplified through many ventures, including his work as founder and CEO of StreetcraftLA, an organization that encourages low-income, at risk, and unemployed youth to create brighter futures through creative economy entrepreneurship. He also serves as the chief social impact officer and partner of coParenting, the first app that prioritizes children in communications between separated parents. The app is designed to target conflict resolution for separated parents, which is often recognized as one of the biggest factors impacting children’s long-term mental and physical health and well-being. Mooney is also a key part of Cities of Wellbeing in Santa Monica, an initiative to use the science of wellness to analyze and reimagine the city to prioritize well-being over traditional economic indicators. Mooney works as an education consultant and the co-founder, founding CEO, and president emeritus of Eye-to-Eye, an award-winning national mentoring, advocacy, and movement-building organization for students with learning and attention differences. Mooney is also the education venture principle for The Promo Pathway Program, the first accredited on-air promotions training program in the United States that prepares creative youth from underrepresented communities, ages 18–26, for the exciting world of television marketing.

Considering the diversity of ways that Mooney has participated in social advocacy, his pride in his work comes from a specific place: “What I’m most proud of is not that I proved some people who doubted me wrong, but that I proved the many people — my mom; a teacher named Mr. R.; my wife, Rebecca — right, not just about my potential but about the potential for all of us who live and learn differently.”

Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations