David Flink, author of Thinking Differently

In a scholastic milieu where the odds were stacked against him from even before his early diagnosis of dyslexia and ADHD (in 5th grade), David has faced a new Goliath so often, so calmly, and with such inevitable success, it’s no wonder he has taken his place as a true leader on the front lines of the learning rights movement.

David, like so many of the kids on whose behalf he serves today, struggled through much of his pre-college education, feeling marginalized by his education as a whole. Although his parents and teachers frequently reassured him that college was in the cards, he would have found that message more actionable, and useful, if it had come from a peer, a person with a learning difference (LD) who had finished college. With that in mind, David co-founded Eye to Eye in 1998 while a student at Brown University. Eye to Eye is the only national mentoring movement that is empowering young people with LD by giving them a mentor who shares that experience.