Athlete Leadership

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.

The goal is to address the challenge of unemployment in South Africa through grant funding and forming relationships with public, private, and civil society organizations on projects that will significantly contribute to job creation.

New $5 million grant underscores Bank of America’s longstanding support of leadership programming

Jennifer Wardlow loved collecting pins at the 1995 Special Olympics World Games in New Haven, Connecticut. A staple of major Special Olympics competitions, the pins are designed to represent the athletes’ states and/or countries.

Over 5.5 million athletes with intellectual disabilities participate in Special Olympics programs around the world, and the number of nations with at least one Special Olympics chapter is constantly growing.

Kayla Cornell is the head chef in her cooking class for individuals with intellectual disabilities.