Draft:Dannie Lynn Fountain

Dannie Lynn Fountain (Murphy) (born December 24, 1993) is an American nonfiction writer and disability advocate. Her first traditionally published nonfiction book, Ending Checkbox Diversity, was released in 2022, followed by Keep Your Day Job in 2024. She wrote a contributing chapter to the Harvard Business Review title Authenticity, Identity, and Being Yourself at Work, also released in 2024. Fountain holds graduate degrees in Human Resources from Capella University and Indiana Wesleyan University and an undergraduate degree from Albion College. She currently works at Google as a disability accommodations specialist.

Fountain has received many accolades as a professional. She was named the Emerging Leader of the Year by the National Association of Enrolled Agents in 2023 and was named Young Alumni of the Year by Albion College in 2019.

Early life and education
Fountain was born and grew up in Michigan, initially in Metro Detroit and later in Saint Clair, Michigan. She graduated from Saint Clair High School in 2011. She attended Albion College, majoring in business. While in college, she began her entrepreneurial pursuits, studied abroad at SUP de V, and was involved in activities including student government, tour guiding, supporting the Alumni Engagement office, and others. Fountain graduated from Albion College in 2014 and secured her first corporate job at Whirlpool Corporation beginning a month later.

Parallel to her full-time employment, Fountain attended Indiana Wesleyan University, where she earned a Master of Science in Human Resource Management. After a two-year break, she then studied at Capella University where she earned a Doctorate of Business Administration in Human Resource Management. She has also completed an Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate at Stanford University.

Professional career
Fountain's professional career began at Whirlpool Corporation in July 2014. After a year at Whirlpool, Fountain became a full-time entrepreneur from 2015-2017. In 2017, she began working at Google in the sales department. During this time, she also self published four books: The Side Hustle Gal, The Bucketlist Babe, Big Plan for the Creative Mind (co-authored), and One Honest Woman. The foreword for One Honest Woman was written by Jenna Kutcher.

Writing career
Prior and parallel to her professional writing career, Fountain published three academic theses. Her undergraduate thesis was titled The Implications of Body Modifications on the Hiring Process and was published in 2011. Her Masters thesis was titled Employee Resource Groups as a Tool for Recruitment, Retention, and Combatting ‘Generation Pivot’ and was published in 2015. Her doctoral thesis was titled Employee Moonlighting Policies in the Technology Industry to Reduce Conflicts of Interest and was published in 2022.

In mid-2020 she signed with Liza Dawson Associates literary agency (who also represent R. F. Kuang) and in early 2021 signed her first traditional publishing contract with Berrett-Koehler Publishers for Ending Checkbox Diversity. In October 2022, Ending Checkbox Diversity was published and was an Amazon #1 New Release.

As part of the publication of Ending Checkbox Diversity, she wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review, published in January 2023. This article was later republished as chapter 6 in the Harvard Business Review title Authenticity, Identity, and Being Yourself at Work, to be published in May 2024.

In mid-2023 she signed a second traditional publishing contract with Routledge Publishing for Keep Your Day Job, to be published in June 2024.

Advocacy work
Fountain frequently speaks and writes on the impact of invisible marginalized identities. Her January 2023 article for the Harvard Business Review talked about this at length and her social media profiles cover this topic frequently as well.

Personal life
Fountain uses her maiden name in her professional life but her married name is Murphy. Her wedding was covered in The New York Times. She identifies as AuDHD (ADHD and Autism), queer, and plus size.

Selected awards and honors
Fountain has been nominated for and won multiple awards.