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Patricia Walsh

  • Senior Technology Product Manager at Facebook
  • Former Director of Engineering for Data News Analytics at Dow Jones
  • One of the first blind engineers at Microsoft
  • 5 x U.S. national champion, USA Triathlon athlete of the Year; World record holding in the sport of triathlon
  • Blind World Record Setting Athlete & Author of "Blind Ambition" (McGraw Hill)
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Diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumor, Patricia Walsh became blind at age five due to complications of surgery. As a teenager she struggled with depression and hopelessness. Today, Patricia is a world champion triathlete, award-winning engineer, and speaker.  She has raced in over 12 marathons and ultra-marathons. When a friend first mentioned triathlons to her,...

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Diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumor, Patricia Walsh became blind at age five due to complications of surgery. As a teenager she struggled with depression and hopelessness.

Today, Patricia is a world champion triathlete, award-winning engineer, and speaker. 

She has raced in over 12 marathons and ultra-marathons. When a friend first mentioned triathlons to her, she immediately signed up for the Ironman — before even owning a bike!  She set the world record for blind athletes in the IronMan distance, blowing away previous female and male records by over 80 minutes. Patricia has a degree in computer science, electrical engineering, non-profit leadership and was formerly one of the first blind engineers at Microsoft.

Patricia is the 3 x National champion for paratriathlon, and 2 x Bronze for the United States in Short Course World Championship, & formerly named a USAT Athlete of the Year.  In 2016, Patricia also reached her goals to become the U.S. Representative for the Paralympics.

Patricia Walsh is currently a Senior Technology Product Manager at Facebook.  She is also the former Director of Engineering for Data News Analytics at Dow Jones.  At Dow Jones, Patricia led 5 teams of engineers globally with oversight of AI, data news and analytics, as well as legacy products for Dow Jones & their Professional Information Business (with all their technology effort in the PIA business reporting directly to her: Data News Analytics & Knowledge and Insights).

It is her mission to help others overcome their fear of failure in order to achieve their full potential. Patricia’s strategic planning and ability to execute on goals made it possible for her to achieve a life that surpasses her wildest dreams; it is now her goal to teach others to dream big and watch as their dreams come true.

Patricia was recently featured in a Garmin campaign Women of Adventure.  She has also been featured in success magazine, Fast Company, INC.com among many others.

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Patricia Walsh in Media

Speaker Programs

Blind Ambition
Life story of discovering a pediatric Brain tumor at the age of 5 to then become a Paralympic hopeful. Blind Ambition Speaking can develop a discussion specific to the organization upon request. ...more
Life story of discovering a pediatric Brain tumor at the age of 5 to then become a Paralympic hopeful. Blind Ambition Speaking can develop a discussion specific to the organization upon request. ...less
Inspire Yourself
How to get out of bed in the morning every morning.
Take a Chainsaw to Your Impossibilities
Blind Ambition: The Power of Transformational Change
Patricia knows transition, change and (as a blind athlete) how to perform at a high level no matter the challenge. She began in competitive athletics 10 years ago and now at 38 is competing mostly ...more
Patricia knows transition, change and (as a blind athlete) how to perform at a high level no matter the challenge. She began in competitive athletics 10 years ago and now at 38 is competing mostly against those in their early 20's. No matter what the challenges she inspires audiences to take what they have, grow through it, and perform at their peak. She says... "Being an aging athlete is kind of similar to what the media industry at Dow Jones (and many industries) are going through - the competitors are able to change more rapidly and have more availability of time and support". This equips her with the perspective to inspire her team and audiences through their own difficulty with powerful personal stories and creative solutions to empower. Patricia shares about the transition she's currently experiencing as an athlete (from Triathlon to representing Team USA in the 2020 Paralypics) and how she's taking those lessons learned and applying them to her career at Dow Jones (who is undergoing a major transition and having to adapt constantly - going from being print media driven to being data driven). New market realities are driving their business transformation along with significantly disruptive changes. Given that she's leading that technology effort described in her bio that transition rolls up to her as well. Some of the mindset of what she's spearheading daily at DJ is: assessing the next opportunity, innovating rapidly, when it is right to let go of a legacy product, competing with other businesses in this economy, difference between tech hype and what will really be the next big thing along with motivating each team member to be a lifetime learner, be adaptable, hire for flexibility, and be willing to take risks in order to successfully oversee the successful transitional conversion to a new way of doing business. In her talks, she inspires groups through her athletic ability to perform at their peak in business with examples relevant for the economic realities of now - leveraging her engineering and technology background with the know-how to help groups make their next successful transformation. ...less

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