Through their own participation in Special Olympics and their county’s Youth Leadership Council, they were inspired to lead a Youth Innovation Project to develop Unified Schools in Germany. Louis and Anne-Marie will create opportunities for young people with and without intellectual disabilities to come together through Unified Sports and their Youth Athletes program. Their hope is that this project will build cooperation between special schools and primary schools that will last well into the future.

Over 9 months, Louis and Anne-Marie will enable hundreds of young people with and without intellectual disabilities to interact with one another through an inclusive sports day and develop more inclusive sports groups and events. This will allow the young people to show their skills, learn from their peers, identify and develop solutions to barriers, and – of course – have lots of fun! Louis and Anne-Marie even hope to expand these Unified programs across the entire country. Through these programs, young people with and without intellectual disabilities will be empowered to be advocates for inclusion and join the Special Olympics movement. As members of the Unified Generation, Louis and Anne-Marie believe that creating opportunities for inclusion at such a young age will reduce prejudices and allow people to see that diversity is valuable and essential.