From the Desk of the CEO: April 2025
Dear Special Olympics Pennsylvania Community,
This is the first of what will become regular updates “from the desk of the CEO.” Several times per year (approximately quarterly), I will provide insights and updates on topics and events that are important to our Movement and share my perspectives as the CEO. I wanted to start this month by addressing something that recently sparked, in less than a week, the most engagement across all social media platforms that we’ve ever seen.
Risks Worth Taking
As some of you may know, I began my career as a Naval Flight Officer flying off aircraft carriers. Flight operations on a moving ship, at night, and in bad weather are inherently risky. But, these operations are conducted routinely. The risks are not cavalierly ignored – they are mitigated and managed to levels deemed acceptable. They are risks worth taking in order to accomplish the mission.
While the operations of Special Olympics are very different than carrier flight operations, we are also confronted with risks. As an organization, we should not be afraid to take risks. But, the risks we take should be worth taking.
Recently, a moment of unfiltered passion about Special Olympics Pennsylvania went viral when comedian Shane Gillis—who has a family member who competes as a SOPA athlete—declared, “Special Olympics PA… that sh*t rocks!” at a live event, moments before he and Pat McAfee each donated $50,000 to support our athletes.
In one raw, unfiltered sentence, Shane captured what so many of us feel in our hearts but often express differently or perhaps don’t say at all. This Movement does rock! It’s bold. It’s emotional. It’s gritty. It’s real. It’s powerful. But for some, the language was unexpected—even uncomfortable. And that’s where the conversation really began.
The video from this event resonated with a broad, younger audience and instantly went viral, offering us a powerful opportunity to amplify our message of inclusion in new spaces to reach individuals who might not have been familiar with SO and/or may have had misperceptions about people with ID. If we were going to tap into this viral moment, we knew that we had to act quickly. We also knew we were taking a risk, and by acting on this moment some people might love it and others might be upset.
This moment also sparked a second conversation – one that was a bit surprising but also necessary – a conversation about inclusion. True inclusion isn’t just access to sports. It’s a seat at the table. We cannot ask the world to see our athletes as full, respected, contributing adults if we’re not doing so ourselves. That means giving them the microphone. That means trusting them with leadership. And, that means they show up in the mainstream, on social media, in moments of humor, strength, and pride – just like everyone else.
I consulted with several stakeholders before we launched our brief campaign, including our board, Special Olympics North America, and some external partners. After those consultations, I deemed that the risks were worth taking in order to reach a new audience and meet them where they were, and I gave the “green light” to proceed.
Responses overall were positive (favorable reactions outweighed negative ones by more than 10 to 1). That said, we respect and understand that the tone of this campaign may not feel appropriate or comfortable to everyone. I am sorry that some were offended, and I appreciate the many differing perspectives that were shared.
Moving forward, you will continue to see us take risks, if and when we believe those risks are worth taking. They won’t all be “edgy” risks like the most recent case, but you will see us push boundaries that may make some people uncomfortable. Here are two examples. First, we are on the cutting edge of implementing new technology for the Movement. You should already be familiar with the volunteer portal that was launched last year, and most of you have heard about the new athlete registration portal being launched this Spring. These developments are part of a broader global effort called the “Digital Center of Excellence (COE),” and SOPA is one of several state Programs working with Special Olympics, Inc. on the development effort. By being one of the first Programs to employ this technology (and we were the very first Program in the world to go live with the volunteer portal!), we have an important voice in shaping the design of the system and setting priorities for development. But, there is also more risk by being first. Even though our staff team is working diligently with the COE developers to identify and address challenges during development and testing phases so that users – athletes, families, and volunteers – won’t encounter these problems when they use the system, there is always some risk that there will be “bugs” or kinks that have to be ironed out. We deemed these risks acceptable in order to position SOPA as a leader in the Movement and to enable us to deliver solutions to our constituents as quickly as possible.
The second example involves our work to create a “Future of Sports” vision. We have been working not only with many SOPA staff and volunteers but also leaders from other Special Olympics Programs and SO North America to create a vision for the future of our program and service offerings. Some of the early fruit from those efforts is the addition of a 4th season and our upcoming softball and golf championships this summer.
As we look to the future and how to best meet the needs and desires of our athletes, we will continue to push boundaries and take risks that are worth taking. Please know that none of this changes who we are or what we’re about – building a more joyful and inclusive world. This is not about abandoning our past – it’s about building on it. And, it’s about expanding the circle—not changing who belongs in it.
I’ll share more about our work and our vision for 2030 in future newsletter updates. Until then, thank you ALL for your passion and support on this journey together. The best is yet to come!