This Women’s History Month, Special Olympics is celebrating the remarkable women who lead, inspire and make a difference in our organization—an organization founded on the visionary leadership of one woman, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Below, meet four Special Olympics leaders who are advancing the movement’s mission in creative and impactful ways.
Mary Davis—Chief Executive Officer
“I lead with authenticity, because of the gifts of courage, strength, and resilience that I have received from the athletes, the staff, and the volunteers.
And as we celebrate this month, this Women’s History Month, let’s also not forget our founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who herself was such a strong role model, a woman of great faith, of great belief, of courage and love, who led with a restless dissatisfaction with the status quo.
So today and always, as we celebrate this Women’s History Month, let’s walk in the shoes of our founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.”
Annemarie Hill—Chief, Health Operations
“It is often argued that women are more sensitive and emotional than men, and that bringing those characteristics into leadership roles makes them appear ‘soft’.
Personally, I consider my ability to be able to witness and feel the gross injustice experienced by a person with a disability, with such depth that it can fuel one’s work for over 25 years, to be an asset.
And to be able to work for Special Olympics and convert that fire into positive change for those that lit it? Well, that’s just a privilege.”
Christy Weir—Vice President, International Media Relations & Communications
“I am now celebrating my 12th year at Special Olympics, and in 12 years I have spent a lot of time doing a lot of different roles. But my most favorite is Media Relations and bringing awareness to the powerful, very impactful stories of our athletes all around the world.
So, seeing female leadership at all levels of our organization and being able to work with female journalists, female athletes, female colleagues and seeing each other build each other up, give each other tips and tricks on succeeding in today’s workplace, is incredibly empowering.
And I feel really privileged to be able to do that, because not every organization makes a priority in making sure that females are at the table, and they have significant leadership roles.”
Sydnye White—Vice President, Content & Storytelling
“I majored in film production at Howard University because I love writing and photography, and then I had a career in broadcast as a producer for cable and network shows, and now I get to lead a global storytelling team at Special Olympics to share the wisdom and experiences of our athletes.
I think as an African American woman, I bring an open-mindedness and an empathy to allow athletes to really bring their authentic selves and their authentic stories to the forefront. I’m excited about what I do because we all can learn from our athletes and people with intellectual disabilities how to communicate better, how to be better colleagues, better collaborators, better members of the community, and better global citizens.”
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