Notable Projects.
Unified Relay Across America.
The Unified Relay Across America remains the single largest fundraising event in Special Olympics history - a 46 day national relay that raised more than $4.3 million. As a leader of this project, I ensured the fundraising system met crucial project milestones to guarantee the event launched on time and within budget.
Unified Rivalry Series.
Tasked with the challenge of identifying new fundraising opportunities in an oversaturated domestic market, I helped develop a national collegiate event series, the Unified Sports Rivalry Series. This Special Olympics platform mimics the NCAA rival team matchups (for example, Alabama vs. Auburn, Duke vs. UNC). The series has been highlighted on ESPN College Game Day. The pilot season garnered over 3 million impressions through social media advertisements. The series helped to secure new corporate partners, such as Farm Bureau Insurance, and dramatically expanded participation in Special Olympics College Clubs.
CR Studio’s Fashionbook.
In 2017, I coordinated a partnership with CR Studio to highlight a Special Olympics Unified pair in the spring 2018 men’s Fashionbook. The spread was focused on heroes from all walks of life and helped introduce the couture fashion world to people of differing abilities, helping to create a more inclusive community. In addition, Special Olympics was the beneficiary of a limited edition CR Studio 2018 calendar.
Gaming for Inclusion.
When Covid-19 ground the world to a halt it was a devastating blow to the Special Olympics community. However, isolation soon gave way to inspiration when Special Olympics and Microsoft saw the unique opportunity to create a new type of inclusive experience. Aligned with Microsoft’s strategic plan to drastically scale their reach through technology and Special Olympics’ mission to breakdown stereotypes of people with ID, Gaming for Inclusion was launched. With 627,665 family, friends and fans tuning in to watch 90+ Special Olympics athletes compete in esports, Gaming for Inclusion drove awareness and engagement within the gaming community and showcased technology bringing people together.
TEAM USO.
TEAM USO, a comprehensive web-based program for fundraising, provided new ways to support the troops and their families. As the lead in the implementation of this new tool, I established and maintained an extensive client database of donors and participants for recruitment, acquisition, and retention resulting in a 70% increase in participant registration.
More Than Miles Tour.
Led on site efforts for the More than Miles Tour – a nationwide innovation hub used to capture and convert runners across North America to lululemon customers – resulting in +5% store traffic comp (the store’s sales compared to the previous year).
Notable Partnerships.
Tommy Hilfiger.
I secured Tommy Hilfiger as a global sponsor of Special Olympics, Special Olympics USA Games Seattle and the Special Olympics 50th Anniversary celebration. A coinciding commercial campaign featured several Special Olympics athletes in the Tommy Hilfiger 2018 summer campaign. These efforts elevated Tommy’s connection to Special Olympics and commitment to bring high fashion to those with differing abilities through the launch of a line called “Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive”.
Oculus VR.
Oculus VR, a brand within the Facebook family, joined the Special Olympics movement at a critical time and committed to the monumental undertaking of producing a Special Olympics PSA that was scheduled to run in AMC theaters nationwide for all of July 2018. I was solely responsible for the acquisition and execution of all assets with this partnership.
Nickelodeon.
Nickelodeon has consistently engaged with Special Olympics for the past several years. As the account manager, I lead conversations to ensure activations generate brand awareness through inclusion in the company’s initiatives. Some examples include: Worldwide Day of Play materials; Special Olympics athletes competing in Superstar Slime Showdown at the Super Bowl in 2018; sponsorship of Special Olympics’ 2019 Youth Summit; Special Olympics athlete on the 2020 Time Kid of the Year selection committee; and in 2021 we will see the production of educational videos for Special Olympics’ Unified Classroom initiative.
Audi Best Buddies Challenge, DC.
The Audi Best Buddies Challenge DC is a run, walk and cycling benefit event hosted by Best Buddies International. I served as the primary liaison between sponsor teams and staff members in the planning, administration, and delivery of the event which fundraised over $2M annually.
Celebrating Champions.
Celebrating Champions is a month long-campaign to raise awareness and resources for Special Olympics. In response to the challenge of needing a signature moment to raise much needed funds during the summer, I led efforts to create a signature campaign that could be replicated and reproduced every year. It has since been embraced by the entire global organization and is now part of the yearly marketing and fundraising calendar at Special Olympics.
AMC Theatres.
Coordinated our efforts with AMC to provide 0:25 seconds of commercial advertising space to help generate awareness for Special Olympics during the Special Olympics 50th Anniversary celebration. The placement ran in all 600 AMC theatres across the United States from July 6th through August 2nd, 2018 and generated more than 823K total impressions and is valued at $1,260,776 (USD). Additionally, Special Olympics was able to leverage this public service announcement to include a call-to-action to donate and learn more about its great work in the community.
KPMG.
Expanding on their yearly golf event sponsorship, KPMG is one of the presenting sponsors of the Special Olympics Inclusive Youth Leadership Summits. Youth leaders with and without intellectual disabilities from across the US and Canada come together for networking sessions, leadership development trainings and experiential opportunities that further their understanding of what it means to be a an inclusive leader.
Microsoft.
Microsoft is a global partner with the goal of empowering athletes through technology. Microsoft has helped modernize the Special Olympics Games Management system and supports the growth of Special Olympics Youth Leadership program. Microsoft is helping to deploy Microsoft Teams as a digital platform to connect youth leaders around the world, raise awareness and funding through the Microsoft Rewards platform, and help host virtual gaming events for Special Olympics athletes.
Brooks Running.
Brooks Running was a partner of the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games. Brooks celebrated the games with the launch of the limited-edition USA Games Ghost 10 shoe and collection of apparel and accessories. Brooks further supported this event by providing hundreds of volunteers, offered a free pair of performance running shoes to USA Games athletes, and delivered an engaging brand experience to athletes, coaches, families and fans. As part of their commitment to inclusivity, Brooks also sponsored two runners who competed at the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games.
AT&T.
Leading our partnership with AT&T, I ensured our ability to drive business outcomes for AT&T through employee engagement opportunities. These efforts directly impact AT&T’s D&I efforts and Special Olympics initiatives for workplace inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. AT&T is investing in persons with intellectual disabilities at home, in the classroom, at work – to create more inclusive communities.
Finish Line.
For the past two years, I have served as the account manger for Finish Line. In this time, I have secured multiple year-long partnership commitments and value in-kind (merchandise). The partnership has resulted in almost a million dollars in funding, hundreds of shoes given to Special Olympics athletes across the country, and employee engagement opportunities for Finish Line employees.
Bank of America.
Bank of America’s partnership has always been focused on building a diverse and inclusive society. Through my leadership of this longstanding 40 year partner, I ensured their continued support for major global events and continued investment for Special Olympics’ approach to developing inclusive leaders around the world.