In the Spotlight
“In the Spotlight” this issue is David Evangelista. David has worked at Special Olympics International for eight years and is the Director, Program Development and Analysis, where he manages Special Olympics-Lions Club International Opening Eyes® and global expansion and positioning of Healthy Athletes among potential partners.
What brought you to Special Olympics initially?
I grew up with Special Olympics all around me. In 1983, my father founded Special Olympics Rhode Island. At the time, Special Olympics was not as well known in the United States as it is today, but it was gaining ground. I did not understand as a child that what was developing in the United States was to be the most potent form of advocacy for persons with intellectual disabilities that the world had ever seen.
At age 18, before heading off to American University, I volunteered at the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games in New Haven, Connecticut. George Smith, who at the time was Assistant Vice President of sports programming, invited me to participate and it gave me a broader perspective of what the movement had become. What I had realized at the Games in Connecticut was something I could not truly appreciate until much later; I had never known the world without Special Olympics. My generation, in the United States anyway, had that good fortune.
Special Olympics did, however, take on a much more profound meaning once I was about to graduate from the university. I approached a professor during my senior year to ask if I could receive credit as an intern at Special Olympics headquarters. He agreed, with one condition: I had to write a thesis on the study of eugenics and the impact that it had on the world. As I got into the research, it soon became clear what my professor's intent was, and the more I learned about the study of eugenics, primarily in the 1920s and 1930s, the more I became intrigued with what Special Olympics actually stood for. In short, completion of that work, coupled with my internship, changed my perspective completely.
What have you been involved with since you have been here?
On June 1, 1999, I came on as an administrative assistant in the sports department. Shortly after starting with Special Olympics I went to the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Raleigh, North Carolina. I worked on a number of things at the time, including the sports rules committee. As a sports organization, it was imperative that I know the ways in which Special Olympics modified rules to fit the population, the cultural influences in the various sports that drove the incorporation of new sports and activities, and the professionalism with which these rules were enforced, locally as well as internationally.
In December 2000, Special Olympics began to work with Lions Clubs International Foundation on a pilot partnership project called Opening Eyes. It was at this time that I began to work with Dr. Stephen Corbin, and Dr. Paul Berman and his team of clinical experts - Dr. Susan Danberg, Dr. Bob Sanet and Dr. Sandra Block. It was and still is an incredible experience to work with dedicated, passionate professionals that have made such a commitment to excellence. While working on Opening Eyes, other initiatives began to emerge and other clinical activities that only expanded the reach of what would become an internationally known public health care program.
What were your reasons for going to Spain?
In February 2001, I attended the World Winter Games in Anchorage, Alaska. That was the first time I saw Opening Eyes in action. There was a Train-the-Trainer program, where health care professionals were trained to conduct Healthy Athletes screenings in their home countries/communities. I met a clinician there who was being trained as Special Olympics Spain's Clinical Director for Opening Eyes. We married five years later!
I also felt that I needed additional training to be effective in my job. As I worked with a number of corporate sponsors, and saw the way in which Special Olympics was evolving, I needed to learn the language of those corporate sponsors; I enrolled in a masters program in International Business in Spain. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Upon completion of my program, I headed back to continue my work with Special Olympics with refined skills and renewed vigor to create more opportunities for the population of persons with intellectual disabilities.
What are your long term goals for the Healthy Athletes programs and yourself?
Special Olympics is born of visionaries and diplomats, and you can see this in the past, present and future of the movement. Special Olympics has changed the game! The idea is not unique but the execution is. By using volunteers and experts from all over the world, we have become a key global player, serving as a model to bring about change in an effort to better the reality for one of the most, if not the most, vulnerable population on earth. I see us working to develop more bilateral agreements to improve services, as well as partnering with like-minded organizations, governments and corporations to create intervention models to improve the quality of life by prevention and education. My message to those across the world who know Special Olympics would be to say thank you for being part of the most positive, proactive global team dedicated to service and advocacy. My long term goal for Healthy Athletes is to further mobilize this global team toward service and action.
Return to Healthy Athletes Update, Spring 2007
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