Athlete Leadership

Throughout the Special Olympics North America Region, Programs are creating opportunities for Special Olympics athletes to find their voices and share their powerful stories.

Two athletes from Special Olympics Missouri and Special Olympics Kansas had the honor of co-announcing the 141st pick in the 2023 NFL Draft for the Minnesota Vikings. Richard Scott and Josh Alters, both passionate multi-sport athletes, were chosen to make the pick.

Coach Joe Bellini and Special Olympics athlete Will Smith have known each other for nearly 30 years. Their relationship isn’t the typical coach/athlete relationship because the connection runs so deep. Here is their story.

Shavanna Mahoe has the distinction of being Hawaii’s first and only Special Olympics athlete who serves as a certified bocce official.

This year's Capitol Hill Day wasn't my first (I've been to eight others!), but it was our first in-person Hill Day in several years and I was so excited to be back! It was amazing to see so many of my favorite people in person and to meet so many new people.

Happy New Year, everyone! Can you believe it is 2023?! It’s so hard to imagine that four years in my role as an SSIGM have already gone by. I can honestly say these years have certainly been filled with adventure and the unexpected.

I have four meaningful goals for this year that I hope to accomplish, with the love and support of my mentors and staff from Special Olympics and my family and friends.

Throughout the Special Olympics North America Region, companies demonstrate what an inclusive environment should look like and how that translates throughout the communities.

With National Disability Employment Awareness Month right around the corner, I've been reflecting on my own employment journey. My journey to the job I currently have was not one that I planned and it didn't go as easy as one, two, three. It was and still is a journey of faith. You see, when I left high school, I faced barriers in qualifying for disability resources and vocational training that I had been told would help prepare me to enter the workplace. As I applied for services, I was told I was either too high functioning or too low functioning to receive these services. I had a lot of time to wonder, and even be afraid of what my future might hold. The workplace had always been a scary place for me. I wasn’t so worried about the type of job I would get; I was worried about the support I would receive to be successful in my job.

Created in 1922, the British Empire Medal is granted by the Crown in recognition of meritorious civil or military service.