She has any number of degrees in education and communication from the University of Illinois, but she’s also been a sports copy editor on the night shift, an actress and a writing teacher. Communications is the driving force of Jane Flynn-Royko’s life. For the past 16 years she has filled many internal communications positions at Accenture, and currently leads the US Internal Communications team, providing communication strategy, planning and delivery to US leadership and key business functions. Jane also happens to be a runner and to have one arm. These two factors have come together for her—something she is “surprised but happy” about—since she began to help manage Accenture’s relationship with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organization that recognizes the athletic possibilities in all people with physical challenges and supports their athletic endeavors by providing grants for training, competition and equipment needs. “Call it a coincidence, or luck, or whatever, but I never expected that all these elements of my life—my work, my running, my perspective as a person with a disability—would come together in one place for me,” Jane says. “It’s really an honor and a great deal of fun.” One the programs run by the Challenged Athletes Foundation is Operation Rebound, which aims to help wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan get back on track through sports. Jane helped Melissa Stockwell, who lost a leg in Iraq, complete the Accenture Chicago triathlon on the “WonderWomen” team. Melissa did the swimming and cycle sections while Jane stepped in to do the 10 kilometer run. “I won’t say we broke any records, but I had a ball,” quips Jane. Professionally, Jane sees communicating to the diverse US audience in Accenture as an enormous challenge, and one that calls on all her skills. Jane credits technology for the role it plays in keeping the global Accenture family together. Working with a large range of people and cultures may, in her words, be “the best part of my job.” More important still is the prevailing Accenture culture that values diversity of perspective, making the minor inconveniences of a 6.30 am call insignificant. She raises the point that so many long-time Accenture staffers mention: the sheer exhilaration of working with “some of the finest, smartest, funniest people I’ve ever known,” all united by a common pursuit of excellence and a desire to help their clients achieve high performance. “No matter what, I’ve always been surrounded by people I’ve respected and appreciated working with. That is the truly most satisfying part of my work,” she sums up. Building a career at Accenture can be daunting, she says, because it is such a big place. That sense of largeness, of possibility, is however something she has come to value: “There’s always something else to do, someone else to meet, something else to learn,” she observes.

Jane Flynn-Royko—Unplugged

Favorite color? Green Dream car? I’m not really a car person, though I do love to drive. For years, my husband has told me that I would look great behind the wheel of a Porsche Boxster, but I have to believe he has ulterior motives. The food that tastes like home? Popcorn and ice cream. Dream dinner guest? Albert Brooks, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey… someone smart and funny Favorite movie? Oh, that’s impossible! But I love small, character-driven stories like “Men Don’t Leave” and “Truly, Madly, Deeply.” Secret, big hairy goal? Hmmm… either to be a backup-singer (which is unlikely since I can’t sing) or to win that Academy Award (supporting actress is fine, I don’t need to star).