The Eunice Kennedy Shriver (EKS) Fellowship Program serves as a powerful mechanism for creating a cadre of professionals to lead Special Olympics Programs in developing nations, as well as to collaborate with Special Olympics on cross-sector initiatives to raise the status of people with intellectual disabilities.
Making a Difference. Clockwise from top: 2009 EKS Fellows Phillip Mphahlele (South Africa), Peter Bukhala (Kenya), Dasha Zakharova (Russia), Sarah Alam (Pakistan), Anil Kumar Darpalli (India).
The EKS Fellowship Program is a professional development opportunity for mid-career individuals interested in NGO efforts benefiting people with intellectual disabilities. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs under the authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, as amended.
Goals
The goals of the EKS Program are as follows:
- To promote civil society development by building capacity of NGOs and facilitating cross-sector cooperation.
- To solicit, capture and share perspectives and knowledge from around the globe, and provide access to information about best practices in disability services and supports, programs and policies, sports management and NGO administration.
- To create a cadre of well-trained professionals dedicated to promoting effective policies and programs that benefit people with intellectual disabilities around the world.
- To strengthen Special Olympics and to allow more people with intellectual disabilities, their families and communities to benefit from the transformational power of this movement.
Application for 2010 EKS Fellowship
Dates for the 2010 cycle of EKS Fellows have not yet beendetermined. Please contact Jenna Briggs at jbriggs@specialolympics.org for more information.
Program Content
Program participants will engage in a focused set of activities that emphasize practical hands-on professional experiences. View detailed program content.
Fellows will be placed at Special Olympics Programs (called “Host Programs”) in 2009 in the United States and will work in departments that can provide an intense learning and working experience over the course of approximately four weeks. While in the United States, Fellows will support their Host Program with short-term projects that meet their learning objectives for completing a Fellowship Project to be implemented after they return home.
In addition, Fellows will complete approximately six weeks of intensive learning rotations at Special Olympics headquarters in Washington, DC, and at other U.S. locations on topics including leadership, development, communications, government affairs and research.
Upon completion of the U.S. portion of the program, each Fellow will implement a Fellowship project at the Special Olympics Program in his/her country. The project should take 250 hours total to complete over a period of six months.
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| | What YOU Can Do | |
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| | - Get in touch with Special Olympics near you to see what you can do to help.
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| | - Get in the game by joining Special Olympics Unified Sports®, where people with and without intellectual disabilities train and compete together on the same team.
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