Athletes Are Leading; It’s Time for Us to Follow
On Tuesday, 13 November, Special Olympics athlete leaders and members of the International Board of Directors gathered for the morning session of the Global Athlete Congress titled, “Unified Talk: Special Olympics and the Next 50 Years.” They discussed whether Programs should be required to have an athlete on staff, Unified Sports at the World Games, how athlete leaders can build awareness in their communities, and which of Special Olympics’ initiatives do the most to meaningfully include people with intellectual disabilities in society.
Jatnna Tavarez, a local TV personality and National UNICEF Ambassador, moderated the panel before the discussions started. The panelists came from a variety of backgrounds and represented human rights, inclusion, and the three pillars of Special Olympics’ 50th Anniversary campaign: youth, athlete leadership, and sport and health. The speakers were Betilde Munoz-Pogossian, Office of Social Inclusion, Organization of American States; Russell Shaffer, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Walmart; Tanya Nzvengende, Special Olympics Africa Region Youth Leader and African representative to the Leo Advisory Panel; and Nyasha Derere, Special Olympics Africa athlete leader and newly elected Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger.
Nyasha kicked off this discussion by reminding all the leaders in the room: “You are the voice of the voiceless. For those who can’t speak, you speak for them… We are fighting for social inclusion. We are fighting for the rights of people with disabilities. Together, we will build an inclusive world.” His speech was very inspiring, and Jatnna told him he should run for president! I’m excited to see how he grows into an even better leader as a Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger! The next day, Nyasha ran for Chair of the Global Athlete Congress against 13 other leaders. The results will be announced today, and the anticipation is building for everyone here - We can’t wait to see who will win!
During the discussion after the panel, Aysha from Bahrain facilitated my group’s discussion. In a truly international experience, half of our table only spoke Arabic and half only spoke English. Her mentor was the only one who spoke both! Thankfully, she was able to translate between the two languages, and the discussion went smoothly! It was amazing to have the opportunity to get to know Aysha and her mentor even though we didn’t speak the same language.
At the end of the Unified Talk, each group put up post-it notes full of their ideas on a flipchart for all the participants to see. These ideas guided the athletes as they transitioned into more discussion on the topics. At the end of the day, it was evident that the athlete leaders were divided on these issues, and it’s likely there will be more discussion going forward.
It’s important to keep talking through fundamental parts of Special Olympics, so we can keep improving and moving forward. Just as Nyasha said, “Leadership is serving others. It’s not you first, it’s others then you follow.” On Tuesday, the leaders of Special Olympics discussed their visions for the next 50 years of Special Olympics by uniting together to discuss important parts of the movement.
With their recommendations in hand, it’s now our turn to follow them in building a more inclusive world.
