2010 USA National Games

During the 2010 USA National Games, 300 young people with and without disabilities held a Youth Activation Summit as part of the Project UNIFY initiative. The goal is building more inclusive environments in schools across the United States. In between meetings, there was also time for a little fun.

Youth Summit Rocks Nebraska

As part of the 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games, over 300 youth with and without intellectual disabilities gathered in Nebrasksa for a Youth Activation Summit (YAS).

The completely youth-designed and facilitated week of activities provided a forum where youth participants acquire and enhance the knowledge and skills needed to activate youth around the country. It also seeds and facilitates youth leaders and practitioners of Project UNIFY in every state. Through the YAS, youth increased their knowledge and skills on the issues surrounding social justice for persons with intellectual disabilities and on how sports can be a catalyst to create a movement where youth become agents of change. Participants also explored how Special Olympics and the programs, resources and tools the movement offers can promote social justice and advance an effective campaign for change with individuals, associations, institutions and communities at large.

The youth-led sessions were focused on strategies and training for inclusive leadership, ensuring that youth -- with and without intellectual disabilities -- not only lead in the design and facilitation of the sessions, but also are enabled to co‐create solutions to the social justice and school climate challenges they may see after the summit.  Emphasis was placed on how to advocate for change by working alongside and together with individuals with and without disabilities, not just on behalf of them.

"We'd like to empower young people to create communities of meaningful inclusion within their schools rather than have artificial inclusion forced upon them," says Soeren Palumbo, a Project UNIFY youth leader. "It's important we communicate this issue as one of urgency, as one of enormity, and as something that needs to be fixed yesterday."