Athlete Leaders Don't Just Share Their Stories. They Are Trained to Lead.

When Special Olympics athlete leaders Matthew Fong from Special Olympics Macau and Ron Szeto from Special Olympics Hong Kong stood before more than 300 employees representing six companies in Hong Kong, they weren't there simply to share their personal stories.

They were there to lead. As trained Unified Leadership facilitators, they weren't delivering a keynote — they were leading conversations designed to challenge assumptions about disability and inclusion.

Through four interactive Unified Leadership sessions, delivered in partnership with a local organization, Matthew and Ron challenged participants to rethink leadership, disability, and inclusion, not through a presentation, but through conversation, lived experience and shared learning.

"It was powerful," said one of the participants. "Many people and companies were taken aback by Ron and Matthew. It made people rethink some of the ways they conduct business and how they think about inclusion."

That impact didn't happen by chance.

Before leading discussions with business leaders, Matthew and Ron spent years developing the skills needed to facilitate conversations, answer difficult questions, and confidently represent the experiences of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Athlete Leadership is built on a simple belief that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities should not just be included in leadership, they should help shape it. Special Olympics prepares athlete leaders for meaningful leadership roles through knowledge and skills training, practical leadership experiences and opportunities to lead alongside people without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

That partnership is the foundation of Unified Leadership. Rather than leading separately, people with and without IDD lead together as equal partners. In the process, Unified Leadership helps people without IDD move from unconscious bias to conscious inclusion, changing attitudes and behaviors so they create environments where everyone can contribute, make decisions and belong.

Preparing for the Hong Kong sessions required the same commitment expected of any professional facilitator.

"I underwent a self-improvement training program as the presenter and keynote speaker," Matthew said. "I repeatedly sharpened my presentation skills, practicing public speaking, on-site communication and answering questions, ensuring I could deliver the presentation in a stable and composed manner."

Ron prepared just as intentionally.

"I make sure I understand every question that might come up," he said. "I write them down and practice them until I know them well."

Their preparation reflects an important truth about Athlete Leadership. Athlete leaders are not invited into rooms simply because of their lived experience. They develop the communication, facilitation and leadership skills to educate others, challenge assumptions and influence change.

That is what meaningful engagement looks like.

Meaningful engagement is not asking people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to tell their stories while others make the decisions. It is recognizing them as leaders whose expertise and lived experience help shape conversations, solve problems and create better outcomes.

Throughout the sessions, Matthew and Ron encouraged participants to think differently about inclusion, not as an accommodation, but as a shared responsibility.

"I believe hardworking people with autism deserve a chance to work," Ron said. "Work helps them gain experience and keep growing so they can have a good life."

Matthew said:

Because inclusion is not achieved by speaking for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is achieved when we learn, lead, and make decisions together.