Special Olympics believes if we can open one heart and change one mind, we can make a difference. Our Global Ambassadors are helping to shed light on the dignity of people with intellectual disabilities and build support for Special Olympics work around the world. We hope you will join them and add your voice to ours.
Bringing Awarness. Global Ambassador Yao Ming escorts the Special Olympics China team into the Opening Ceremony for the 2007 World Games. Get involved and volunteer.
Raising Awareness
Abuse of and discrimination against 200 million people with intellectual disabilities is a global crisis. It is a challenge to our conscience, and a shameful waste of human potential. By helping bring attention to the issue — and introducing more people worldwide to Special Olympics events and programs — Special Olympics Global Ambassadors help us raise awareness, change attitudes and impact policies
International basketball star Yao Ming is one of the newest Global Ambassadors to join Special Olympics. As a Global Ambassador to China, he is helping to increase Special Olympics’ visibility and reach in a country where an estimated 34 million people currently have some form of intellectual disability.
In this role, Yao has been working directly with Special Olympics athletes throughout the world, holding clinics and meetings where the athletes have been able to work on a personal level with one of the National Basketball Association’s most prominent figures.
The Impact of a Global Ambassador
Global Ambassadors from the worlds of sports, entertainment and music help to raise funds and awareness by bringing attention to the good work Special Olympics is doing every day, 365 days a year, in more than 180 countries. Yao, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Farrell, Vanessa Williams, Inter Milan footballer Kaka and IndyCar driver Vitor Meira are just a few of the many Global Ambassadors who have lent their time to our movement. Their appearances at awareness events and World Games help Special Olympics to gain national and international media coverage, bring our message to millions of people and make connections in new countries and with reluctant governments. In doing so, they are having a direct impact on the lives of millions of people, in their home countries and around the world.
Global ambassador involvement can transform a community and even a country. Thanks to the involvement of Global Ambassador and Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci, renowned for having earned the first perfect score in Olympic gymnastics history at the 1976 Olympics, athlete participation in Special Olympics Romania has grown almost 45 percent since 2005. Comaneci’s outreach to government leaders, including former United States President Bill Clinton and Octavian Morariu, President of the Romanian Olympics and Sports Committee, in addition to her participation in sports clinics, fundraising events and public service advertisements, has resulted in not only more services and opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, but greater acceptance in a country where once a life of institutionalization was the only option.
You Can Make a Difference
You don’t have to be a global ambassador to help Special Olympics. Every person who gets involved can make an impact improving the quality of life for a person with intellectual disability. Get involved with Special Olympics locally in your community and be part of a winning team.
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| | How YOU Can Get Involved | |
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| | - Get in touch with Special Olympics near you to see what you can do to help.
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