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Special Olympics Inc. Partners with Smartsheet to Unlock Collaboration, Helping Them Achieve More for Athletes Across the Globe

Smartsheet’s platform empowers Special Olympics Inc. staff and athletes to break down silos and stay connected
Young adults on the ice playing a game of hockey.

BELLEVUE, Wash., November 15, 2021 -- Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR), the enterprise platform for dynamic work, today announced a partnership with Special Olympics Inc (SOI) to empower its teams and athletes to manage projects, automate workflows and collaborate more easily.

The new partnership expands on their existing relationship and will provide SOI additional Smartsheet capabilities and support to realize the full impact that seamless collaboration can have across its whole organization.

Special Olympics provides year-round sports, health, education and community building to 5.7 million people with intellectual disabilities in 200 countries. Prior to using Smartsheet, teams at SOI managed their work using a combination of spreadsheets and email, which caused silos and inefficiencies. They needed to standardize their approach to project management to collaborate across departments and time zones more effectively.

Today, more than 80 percent of SOI teams use Smartsheet to manage their work and plan events. Since implementing Smartsheet, SOI improved collaboration and transparency across departments and teams, helping reduce duplicative processes and creating significant time savings. For example, multiple teams saved approximately 45 hours a month by combining siloed project workstreams in Smartsheet.

“With Smartsheet, we have become more transparent and innovative with our work and how we collaborate with our teams. The transparent project information we capture from dashboards and reports provides leaders and stakeholders with visibility into projects and creates opportunities to make a long-term impact, ultimately benefiting the athletes and their journey.”
Laura Jones, Director, Project Management, SOI

Special Olympics athletes also gain value from Smartsheet, using the platform to communicate with other members and plan events of their own. Smartsheet serves as a valuable tool for athletes who are part of Special Olympics’ leadership programs and need a way to manage their projects skillfully.

“Smartsheet is a very helpful tool for Special Olympics Inc.,” said Caitlin Baran, Special Olympics Athlete Leader and Athlete Leadership Coordinator, Organizational Excellence Team. “As an organization, transparency is crucial. Smartsheet allows us to keep records and track so that we can be as transparent as possible.”

“Our mission at Smartsheet is to empower anyone to drive meaningful change and partnering with Special Olympics has been an incredible opportunity to bring that to life,” said Amelia Ransom, Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Smartsheet. “We’re thrilled to support SOI and create new ways of working that will help them move faster and achieve more for their global communities of athletes, ultimately contributing to their mission to create a better, more inclusive world. Together, we’re changing the way the world works and plays.”

In addition to the partnership, Smartsheet will provide employee volunteer opportunities at regional Special Olympics community events around the globe. Most recently, Smartsheet, the Seattle Kraken, and Special Olympics Washington (SOWA) held an employee volunteer event on Smartsheet’s rink at the Kraken Community Iceplex for SOWA athletes to learn about the game of hockey. Smartsheet employees also recently volunteered with Special Olympics Massachusetts and Denver; future events are scheduled in London and Edinburgh, where Smartsheet offices are located.

Special Olympics athletes, Smartsheet, and the Seattle Kraken
Special Olympics athletes, Smartsheet, and the Seattle Kraken team up to demonstrate inclusion in sports.