Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics, 1970-1990

Transcription

Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Special Olympics
1970-1990
Mobilizing the Human Spirit
TM
The Role of Human Services and Civic Engagement
in the United States 1900–2000
Foreword
“We need to re-mythologize our heroes. Of course, they were only human beings like the
rest of us……but they had great gifts and, due to fate or chance or perhaps providence,
great currents of human and social energy passed through them.”
Jacob Needleman, The American Soul
Change began with them; change
begins with each of us!
Throughout history, noble
individuals have looked out on their
world and seen that more could be done
to help those in need. Over the last
century in America, these like-minded
individuals found each other, put pen
to paper and became the voice of a
nation, manifesting that deeply human
impulse to care enough to act. Their
zeal, discipline and hard work forever
changed this nation’s collective capacity
to care.
In telling the stories of their lives
and work, the legacy and impact of
their actions, we begin to see the extent
to which voluntary association – the
building of healthy, diverse, inclusive
community – lies at the heart of our
national character.
The Human Spirit Initiative is a
nonprofit organization committed to
building greater understanding of the
impact of health and human services
on American society. Presented in this
monograph and others in this series are
stories that inspire one to action –
to recognize that we are all part of a
community and accept responsibility for
the health of that community. These
stories celebrate the contributions of
ordinary people who dedicated their
lives to found or shape significant human
services organizations and, in the process,
transformed the fabric of 20th century
American society. Blending biography
with history, we will trace the legacy of
their actions: the growth, impact and
promise of civil society in America.
The public (government), private
(corporate), and social (non-profit)
sectors in America all impact our
quality of life and our relationships
with the rest of the world. The nonprofit sector consists of more than 1.4
million organizations, employing 12
million individuals. Operating within
this fast-growing sector are health and
human services organizations – ranging
from community groups to national
associations – focused on alleviating need
and committed to dignity and equality for
all. They include, among many others,
America’s Promise Alliance, Children’s
Defense Fund, Communities in Schools,
Mental Health America, National Urban
League, Special Olympics and Volunteers
of America.
The individuals whose lives we
celebrate have been memorialized
in our nation’s newest monument in
Washington, D.C., The Extra Mile –
Points of Light Volunteer Pathway.
Dedicated in 2005 to the spirit of service
in America, the Extra Mile comprises a
series of bronze medallions forming a onemile walking path just blocks from the
White House. These honorees include
founders of major service organizations
and civil rights leaders, individuals who
selflessly championed causes to help others
realize a better America. Their legacies are
enduring social movements that continue
to engage and inspire us today.
These ordinary people combined
a sense of history and responsibility
with altruism and independence of
spirit. They used their skills as writers,
organizers, speakers, agitators and
advisors to spotlight social needs, change
public opinion, rally forces for positive
change, and advance legislation. None
of them knew at the beginning of their
work the ultimate legacy and impact
of their actions. They did not act for
self-serving reasons, but many did gain
prominence and influence and lived to
see their dreams flourish.
The initial seven monographs in this
series will collectively capture the growth
of health and human services in the
United States over the past century, with
a focus on social welfare, health services,
youth development and civil rights.
The monographs will spotlight the
life and work of:
• Jane Addams, Hull House,
1889-1920
• Clifford Beers, Mental Health
America, 1908-1935
• Maud and Ballington Booth,
Volunteers of America, 1890-1935
ii
• William Edwin Hall, Boys & Girls
Clubs of America, 1935-1950
• Ruth Standish Baldwin & George
Edmund Haynes, The National
Urban League, 1950-1980
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special
Olympics, 1970-1990
• William Milliken, Communities in
Schools, Inc., 1980-2000
These monographs offer a snapshot of
the demographics, economic conditions
and political climate of the 20th century.
Each highlights the particular events and
conditions that gave rise to the need and
enabled the response, while presenting
common themes and approaches that
each of us can follow in our own journey
to make a difference. We will seek to
discover parallels in today’s world, the
legacy of these individuals’ work and,
through the discussion guide, how each
reader can take action to benefit the
common good and strengthen civil
society. The stories are written for
“everyman” and can easily be adapted
for specific audiences – elementary
and secondary school students, college
undergraduates and educators.
As you read – and marvel – at the
generosity, courage, creativity and
tenacity of our “ordinary” heroes, seek to
discover the heroes in the communities
of your life. Applaud yourself for the
role you play in enabling civil society
to flourish. Ask how and when you can
enhance that role. Start Today.
Kay Horsch
Chairman, The Human Spirit Initiative
iii
Acknowledgements
This monograph was made possible
through the insight and generosity of
the following individuals from Special
Olympics International: Timothy
Shriver, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO;
Loretta Claiborne, Special Olympics
Athlete and Board Member; Thomas
Songster, former Staff Special Olympics
Vice President; Steven M. Eidelman,
Professor, University of Delaware and
Kennedy Foundation Director; Judy
Engelberg, Archivist; Peter Wheeler,
Chief Strategic Properties Officer; Helen
MacNabb, Vice President, Strategic
Properties.
We also wish to acknowledge
the support of the following Special
Olympics International interns: Michael
Larussa, Georgetown University graduate
student; Jeremiah Morrow, Georgetown
University graduate student; Katie
Rayford, Tulane University student;
Kelly Bies, Duke University student.
Anne Nixon authored the narrative,
a significant feat in turning historical
data into an inspirational tool for our
readers. With this monograph, we
move through the last third of the
20th century to study the conditions
and events which drove individuals
who were concerned about social
change and justice to realize there
was strength in numbers. We explore
the theme of advancing dignity and
promoting equality and opportunity for
all, regardless of physical or intellectual
iv Mobilizing the Human Spirit
abilities. The meaningful work being
done by Special Olympics has captured
the imagination of people everywhere.
Oral Interviews
In preparation for this monograph,
oral interviews were conducted with
executive leadership of organizations
that have remained faithful to their
mission over time, as well as social
entrepreneurs whose vision and bold
action have contributed to the growth
of our great third sector – the non-profit
social sector. These leaders have acted to
ensure the vibrancy and effectiveness of
the social sector as it continues to offer
hope and helps rebuild trust throughout
the world. The interviews added
significantly to our understanding of the
impulses, opportunities and obstacles
facing volunteers and staff at the end of
the 20th Century, serving as a bridge to
the future. We are most grateful to:
• Daniel Cardinali, President,
Communities in Schools
• Joe Haggerty, Chief Operating
Officer, United Way Worldwide
• Frances Hesselbein, Founder
and Chairman, Leader to Leader
Institute; Past CEO, Girl Scouts of
the USA
• Irv Katz, President and CEO,
National Human Services Assembly
• Marguerite Kondracke, President
and CEO, America’s Promise
Alliance
• Neil Nicoll, Chief Executive Officer,
YMCA of the USA
• Les Silverman, Director Emeritus,
McKinsey & Company
• Kala Stroup, President of American
Humanics 2002-2009
Editorial Team
Frances Hesselbein, Mike Heron and
John Johansen, members of the Human
Spirit Initiative Board of Directors,
served as our Editorial Review Team.
Their valued insights and counsel helped
to shape both form and context for
the entire series. They were joined by
Nancy Lambert and Dee Fagerlie, our
pro bono Research Associates. Together
they created the balance between
inspiration and education within
the content and assured accuracy of
content and language. Mike Heron has
directed our monograph project since its
inception. Marcia Morante, the Human
Spirit Initiative Director, Research,
co-authored the Appendix documents
offering content management and
assuring credibility.
is a gift to the human spirit:
• Michael Heron, President, HerCo
LTD, Atlanta, GA
• Frances Hesselbein, Founder
and Chairman, Leader to Leader
Institute, New York, NY
• Kay Horsch, Founder and Chairman,
The Human Spirit Initiative,
Minneapolis, MN
• John Johansen, Founder, Extra Mile –
Points of Light Volunteer Pathway,
Frederick, MD
• Irv Katz, President and CEO,
National Human Services Assembly,
Washington, DC
• Seymour H. Levitt, M.D., Professor,
Radiation Oncology, University
of Minnesota Medical School,
Minneapolis., MN
• John R. Seffrin, PhD, CEO, American
Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
• Iain Somerville, President and CEO,
Somerville & Associates.,
Los Angeles, CA
Board of Directors –
Human Spirit Initiative
Finally, a very sincere expression
of gratitude to the members of the
Board of Directors of the Human Spirit
Initiative, whose leadership and vision
has shaped health and human services
within the United States. Their belief
in the importance of joining history
and biography to help understand the
importance of civil society and the role
each of us can play in keeping it alive –
Contents
vi
Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Special Olympics
The New Olympic Athletes
The Fearless Warrior
The Backyard Games
Special Olympics Begins
In the 1970s
In the 1980s
Around the World
All Kinds of Games
Part of the Wider World
Some Special Olympics Athletes
Not Just Fun and Games
We’ll Help Too
Passing the Torch
Duties and Honors
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s Children
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s Legacy to the Women of her Family
1-28
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14
15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22
23-24
25
26-27
Special Olympics Chronology 28-32
Message from Timothy Shriver, Chairman, Special Olympics 33-34
Special Olympics Program Locations around the World
35-37
America’s Great Third Sector 38-44
Showing the Way:
Getting Started: Change Begins With Me
Access Numbers to National Organizations
45-47
45
46-47
Gathering Insights and Understanding:
How It All Happened
Echoes of the Past: Parallels in Today’s World
Echoes in My Mind: A Discussion Guide
Conclusions, Major Themes, and Guiding Principles Legacy and Impact Data
Economic Conditions 1970-1990
Political Climate 1970-1990
Development of Human Service Sector in the United States
48-67
48-49
50-52
53-55
56-57
58-59
60-62
63-66
67
Resources Cited:
68-69
For More Information:
The Human Spirit Initiative
The Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway
70
70
70
Order Form
71
vii
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
The New Olympic Athletes
“Love is Action”
Mother Teresa.
Ancient Greek vases depict Olympic
Games that were held in Athens many
centuries ago. They show muscular
young men running and wrestling, with
olive wreathes gracing their brows.
In modern times, millions watch the
Olympics on television and see youthful
competitors parading in national
costumes in international amphitheatres,
all eager to compete with other young
athletes for treasured medals.
Olympic Games took on a very
unique meaning in 1968. That was
the year that Special Olympics – an
organization for the benefit of children
and adults with intellectual disabilities1
– was founded. Today, the impact of
Special Olympics is global, and more
than 3.5 million athletes of all ages train
and compete in over 170 countries.
Special Olympics began with the
vision of one woman – Eunice Kennedy
Shriver, or EKS, as she is known to those
in the Special Olympics organization.
Her daughter, Maria, called her a
“fearless warrior for the voiceless.” Her
father, Joseph P. Kennedy, thought she
would have been a great politician if
only she had been a boy.
Three of Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s
brothers were elected to the U.S. Senate
and one of them, John F. Kennedy, was
the much beloved 35th President of
the United States. Like her brothers,
EKS had political skills and leadership
qualities, but her path did not lead to
elective office. She chose to exercise
her strength in service to a neglected
population – those with intellectual
disabilities. She often referred to them as
her “special friends.”
When Joseph P. Kennedy was
appointed United States ambassador to
England in 1938, he brought his family
to live in the American Embassy in
London, and the nine charming Kennedy
youngsters were thrust into the public
eye. The older children were presented
to the British royal family and were part
of an international group of wealthy and
titled young people. But the Kennedys
were more than socialites. They were
destined for lives of public service.
Prior to the 21st century, terms such as “mental disability,” “mental retardation,” and “handicapped” were used to describe individuals
with intellectual differences. More recently, individuals, family members, and advocates viewed these terms as derogatory, and they
have been replaced with “intellectual disabilities” or “intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
1
The Fearless Warrior
“She was, quite simply, the most formidable woman I have ever met. Her legacy is profound
and inspiring”
Scott Stossel (Deputy Editor, The Atlantic).
When the eldest Kennedy son,
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., died as a bomber
pilot during World War II, his father
founded the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
Foundation in his memory. It was Eunice
Kennedy Shriver who set out to find
a focus for the foundation. She and
her husband, Sargent Shriver, traveled
around the country interviewing
experts, in order to discover where the
need was greatest. One neglected and
forgotten group stood out – people with
intellectual disabilities.
The entire Kennedy family was
sensitized to the plight of people with
intellectual disabilities. Their own sister,
Rosemary, was one of those people, and
it was she who inspired EKS and raised
her awareness that people like Rosemary
were not being given the opportunity
to fully participate in the lives of their
families, schools, and communities.
Many were hidden away, sometimes
institutionalized 2 and often considered
an embarrassment by their families.3
Eunice Kennedy Shriver was
well prepared to take on the critical
leadership role of advocating for and
supporting people labeled by society as
“mentally disabled.” After graduating
from Stanford University in 1943 with a
Bachelor of Science degree in sociology,
she worked on a State Department
program to help former prisoners of war
adjust to civilian life. For two years in
the late 1940s, she served in the Justice
Department as executive secretary of
the National Conference on Prevention
and Control of Juvenile Delinquency.
In1950, she worked at the federal
penitentiary for women in Alderson,
West Virginia. In 1951, she moved to
Chicago where she worked at youth
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s very special
relationship with her sister, Rosemary, who had
intellectual disability, inspired her lifelong work
to create a more accepting and inclusive world
for people with intellectual disabilities.
Braddock, David. “Honoring Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s Legacy in Intellectual Disability”, Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities, Vol 48, No. 1 (February 2010).
2
In 1954, 173,954 people with intellectual disabilities, many of them children, remained separated from children and adults without
intellectual disabilities, in poorly funded, state-operated residential “schools” and in state psychiatric institutions across the country.
(NIMH, 1956)
3
shelters and with the city’s Juvenile
Court system.
When EKS was interviewed, she
often spoke of her sister: “If I never
met Rosemary, never knew anything
about handicapped children, how
would I ever have found out? Because
nobody accepted them anyplace. So
where would you find out? Unless you
had one in your own family.” Eunice
Kennedy Shriver was destined to change
the attitude and behavior of people
everywhere toward these often neglected
individuals. She believed that those with
intellectual disabilities must have the
opportunity to be part of their families,
participate in schooling, live and work in
the community, and engage in everyday
life experiences, such as sports, to fully
develop their mental and physical
capabilities. The “fearless warrior” had
found her battlefield.
In 1957, Eunice Kennedy Shriver
became Executive Vice President of the
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation and
took on the leadership for new initiatives
and programs. As the Foundation’s
leader, she worked closely with her
brothers and sisters to advance the cause
of people with intellectual disabilities.
In doing so, one of her first goals was
to create opportunities for her “special
friends” to actively participate in sports
training and competition. As sister of
the President, EKS was in a position to
exercise considerable influence, and she
did not hesitate to make her opinions and
wishes known. President John F. Kennedy
told his staff to “… give Eunice whatever
she wants … so I can get her off the
Eunice Kennedy Shriver receives a pen from
U.S. President John F. Kennedy, her brother,
following his signing in 1961 of a bill she
championed that formed the first President’s
Committee on Mental Retardation.
phone and get on with the business of
the government.” It wasn’t long until
the President established the National
Institute on Child Health and Human
Development as part of the National
Institutes of Health. This Institute,
named for Eunice Kennedy Shriver
in 2008, is dedicated to research into
children’s health issues – with special
emphasis on intellectual disabilities.
The Backyard Games
“Nothing’s going to be easy. Let’s have fun along the way”
Bill Veeck (owner of major league baseball teams; Hall of Famer)
As with many major undertakings,
Special Olympics began casually – almost
by accident. The Shrivers-Eunice,
Sargent, and their five children-lived
at Timberlawn, a spacious estate in
Rockville, Maryland with 25 acres of
lawn plus easy access to another 250
acres of hills, woods and farmland. They
frequently hosted an amazing range of
guests including professional athletes,
members of Congress and the Supreme
Court, academic and literary celebrities,
foreign dignitaries, religious leaders, and,
of course, the President of the United
States. Their guests enjoyed many
activities. There were tennis courts,
a swimming pool, and a stable full of
horses. Timberlawn’s hospitable setting
would soon offer its delights to children
with intellectual disabilities, the “special
friends” of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
The Kennedys were an athletic
and competitive family. Touch football
was a traditional free-for-all when the
Kennedys were at home in Hyannis,
Massachusetts. To EKS, who was an avid
athlete herself, fun and games seemed
the natural way for all children to grow
and flourish. When the mother of a child
with intellectual disabilities asked her
help in finding a summer camp for her
child, EKS willingly took on the task.
But in trying to find athletic facilities
for such children – children who were
often physically unfit and overweight
– she discovered that none existed. So, in
typical EKS fashion, she took action and
started a camp in her own backyard.
There was nothing half-hearted
about Camp Shriver, as it was called.
A typical day began with the arrival
of busloads of children from local
institutions. They played soccer and
basketball, swam, rode horses, and
jumped on trampolines. The children
were never left without support
and supervision. Diverse groups of
volunteers, including teenagers from
nearby high schools and all five of the
Shriver children, worked with them
all day long. It was indeed chaos, but
organized chaos.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver giving swimming lessons
at Camp Shriver in her backyard, 1962. She
started her life’s work in her own backyard by
hosting Camp Shriver, an inclusive summer sports
camp for people with intellectual disabilities.
Sprinkled amidst the eager amateur
volunteers were highly qualified
professionals in the fields of sports,
physical education, health care, mental
health, and education. Sandy Eiler, a
former Olympic swimmer from Canada,
was hired as camp director.
Questions were asked about
supports and services for children with
intellectual disabilities that had never
been asked before. Where do you go
to find a soccer instructor? The British
Embassy, of course. Were the children
interested in dance? How about a
volunteer from the Philippine Embassy
to show them forms of Asian dance?
EKS believed that the camp would
be a success, and she was right. Her
own children, who had grown up
with their Aunt Rosemary, the other
young volunteers, and campers with
intellectual disabilities all played
together. Sargent Shriver was an active
and avid cheerleader for Camp Shriver
and eventually the President and CEO
of Special Olympics. There were soon
five more camps around the country,
and by 1968, 40 camps nationwide.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver was to expand
her reach far beyond Camp Shriver. It
was but a trailhead that would lead to
Special Olympics.
Special Olympics Begins
“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
Special Olympics Oath
In 1968, when Sargent Shriver was
appointed United States Ambassador
to France, the Shriver family moved to
Paris. Eunice Kennedy Shriver did not
abandon her devotion to persons with
intellectual disabilities. She carried
her Camp Shriver-style project into
the American Embassy. Not only did
she consult with French experts on
intellectual disability, but she spent
every Monday at the External MedicoPedagogique, a facility for French
children with intellectual disabilities.
There she recaptured the Camp Shriver
experience. She taught children to
swim, introduced them to games and
sports, and helped with their education
and therapy. With her inspiration and
determination, a forerunner of Special
Olympics was established in France.
While the Shrivers were in France,
the Kennedy Foundation continued
to fund programs for people with
intellectual disabilities. As early as 1964,
the foundation, under Eunice Kennedy
Shriver’s leadership, and with strong
Kennedy family support, had awarded
grants to the Chicago Park System and
several other parks across the country
to support summer programs similar to
those at Camp Shriver.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw a way
to expand these programs. While living
in France, she provided support and
watched over the plans for what was
to become the first Special Olympics
Games. Although the scheduled start
date of the Games was only seven weeks
after the assassination of her brother,
Robert F. Kennedy, EKS followed
her customary response to tragedy
and carried on. At the opening press
conference, she announced a “national
Special Olympics training program
for children with mental retardation
everywhere.” She finished this
announcement with the promise that
“the Kennedy Foundation will pledge
funds to underwrite five regional Special
Olympics Games.”
The first Special Olympics, held at
Soldier Field in Chicago, did not attract
enormous crowds. In fact, fewer than
100 people sat in the 85,000 seat stadium
to watch the competitions in track and
field, floor hockey and aquatics. But
when 1,000 athletes from 26 states, the
District of Columbia, and Canada joined
with EKS as she recited the Special
Olympics oath, it was the start of a world
movement. As EKS took her seat, Mayor
Daley turned to her and said, “You
know, Eunice, the world will never be
the same after this.” She predicted that
one million individuals with intellectual
disability would one day compete, but
even with her powerful optimism, EKS
would have marveled that in 2010, over
3.5 million Special Olympics athletes
would be training in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia and 170 countries.
On July 20, 1968, the first Special Olympics
Games were held in Chicago, moving Mayor
Richard Daley to predict, “The world will
never be the same after this.”
In the 1970s
“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.”
Helen Keller
Novelist Tom Wolfe defined the
character of the 1970s when he spoke
of “The Me Decade,” a term that
was meant to characterize a period of
selfishness and egotism. Yet, the children
of “The Me Decade” often used their
self-awareness to examine trends and
encourage enlightened actions. Examples
include the many protest movements of
the period, the strength of anti-Vietnam
War sentiment, and the rising tide of
feminism.
The decade of the 1970s also saw the
rise of human rights activism on behalf
of a wide range of people from ethnic,
gender, cultural and linguistically diverse
backgrounds – African-Americans,
Hispanics, Native Americans, gays,
women and farm workers.4 Efforts by
the Federal government also reflected
attitude changes. Title IX of the Higher
Education Amendments of 1972 opened
the door for girls to participate in high
school and college sports.5 The Equal
Opportunities Acts (1972 and 1974),
the Indian Self-Determination Act, and
the 1975 Education for All Handicapped
Children Act demonstrated awareness of
the needs of people living at the margins
of society, without power or privilege.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver took it upon
herself to fight for the millions of people
4
with intellectual disability who were
unable to fight for themselves and were
also victims of discrimination, ignored
and forgotten.
In 1970, the Second International
Special Olympics Games were again
held at Chicago’s Soldier Field. This
time there were 2,000 competitors, and
Canada, France and Puerto Rico also
participated. In 1972, the University
of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
hosted the Third International Games,
and 2,500 Special Olympics athletes
participated. The Fourth International
Summer Games were held at Central
Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant,
Michigan, with 3,200 athletes from
10 countries in attendance. CBS-TV
broadcasted this event nationwide on its
Sports Spectacular program.
In 1977, Special Olympics held
International Winter Games for the first
time. All three major networks covered
the events in Steamboat Springs,
Colorado. The 1970s ended with the
Summer Games held at the State
University of New York at Brockport,
New York, with more than 3,500
athletes from the USA and more than
20 foreign countries participating.
The success of Special Olympics was
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present. (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2003) pp 614-616.
The New York Times on Tuesday, February 16, 2010, reported that current studies of the effect of this legislation offer proof that
team sports can result in lifelong improvement in educational, work, and health prospects.
5
clearly a factor in the national movement
and eventual federal law enacted in 1975
mandating a “free and appropriate public
education for handicapped children.”
This historic law required that every
child with a disability receive physical
education as part of their individualized
education program.
In the 1980s
“Special Olympics has infused my son with the spirit of courage and confidence.”
Parent of athlete from the United States
By 1980, Special Olympics had
become a major force in the lives of
people with intellectual disabilities,
as well as their families and the
communities in which they lived. With
375,000 athlete participants worldwide
and 350,000 volunteers from all fifty
States, the District of Columbia and
thirty countries, the program’s success
was well established. Less than a
hundred observers attended the first
Special Olympics in 1968. At the
Eunice Kennedy Shriver awards the gold medal
to the winning soccer team from Chile in
1983 before a crowd of 60,000 fans in Tiger
Stadium at the Sixth International Special
Olympics Summer Games in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, USA
1983 games, 65,000 spectators came to
Louisiana State University to watch
and cheer the fifteenth anniversary of
Special Olympics.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver was
instinctively drawn to special children.
Rosario Marin, the 41st Treasurer of the
United States and a mother whose oldest
child is intellectually disabled, met EKS
at the 1985 National Down Syndrome
Congress in Anaheim, California. She
reminded EKS of that meeting in a letter
in which she wrote “My son Eric was
just five weeks old. In a very tender way
you hugged me and said: ‘Oh, dear … we
have set the table for your son, now it is
up to you to put food on it for him.’”
Many of the persons served by
Special Olympics were from families at
or below the poverty level. The problems
they faced were increased by a changing
social system with an ever-widening gap
between rich and poor.6 The decline
in the number of two-parent families
exacerbated the problems. In 1970, 40%
of American families were composed
of a mother, a father, and one or more
children under the age of 18, but by
1980, the figures had dropped to 31%
and, by 1990, to 26%.7
6
Jennings, Peter and Todd Brewster. The Century (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1998) P. 473.
7
Woods, Randall Bennett. Quest for Identity (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
10 Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Special Olympics
Eunice Kennedy Shriver coaching at Winter
Games. Coaches are the lifeblood of Special
Olympics, providing both the knowledge and
emotional support its athletes need to succeed.
Feminization of poverty was
another unhappy fact. The percentage
of children living with never-married
mothers increased in the 1980s from 2%
to 7%. By 1989, one out of four children
was born to an unmarried mother.8
Although a quarter of the nation’s
children – 12 million – were living in
poverty, school lunches for a million of
these children were eliminated.9
Special Olympics was needed more
than ever.
8
Ibid., P. 471
9
Op.cit., Zinn, P. 578.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Special Olympics 11
Around the World
“Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged with mankind”
Rabindranath Tagore
Increasingly, Eunice Kennedy Shriver
included her family members in helping
Special Olympics expand its influence.
Since all 50 states and the District of
Columbia were now participating in
the Games, and public attitudes toward
those with intellectual disabilities were
changing, EKS turned her attention
overseas. It was vital that someone with
international experience and background
be involved in this expansion.
That someone lived in her own
home. Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s
husband, Sargent Shriver, had an
imposing diplomatic background – U.S.
ambassador to France, the first director
of the Peace Corps, and the first director
of the Office of Economic Opportunity.
Sargent Shriver was a partner in a law
firm and his professional life was full
and demanding, but the presidency of
Special Olympics offered an opportunity
he couldn’t resist. In 1984, the Special
Olympics Board of Directors elected
him to this office. Since then, Special
Olympics has become the world’s largest
year-round sports program for children
and adults with intellectual disabilities.
In 1982, Brussels, Belgium held the
first Special Olympics European Games.
In 1985, the European Games were
held in Dublin, Ireland, and Austria,
Bolivia, Monaco, New Zealand, Panama,
Portugal, South Korea, Switzerland,
Tunisia, and Yugoslavia all participated.
With the end of the Cold War, Sargent
Shriver persuaded the Soviet Union and
its satellite countries to join the Special
Olympics international movement.
Special Olympics has continued to
reach out around the world to identify
athletes with intellectual disabilities.
These efforts have called attention
to populations long ignored in many
countries. Even countries at war have
been included. In Afghanistan, organizers
knocked on doors in Kabul to find
athletes, many hidden away by their
families. The 22-member Iraqi football
(soccer) team could not train in Baghdad
because of bombs and gunfire, but they
persevered and were gold medal winners.
As early as 1983, Special Olympics
executives and planners, including
Sargent Shriver, had visited China to
work with top Chinese officials. Their
Special Olympics China athlete gives a peace sign
as she gets a hug from Eunice Kennedy Shriver
during the 2007 World Games in Shanghai.
work bore fruit in 2007 when Special
Olympics World Summer Games
were held in Shanghai, China. At the
opening ceremony, a crowd of 80,000
cheered to welcome more than 7,000
athletes. Wang Naikun, who chaired
Special Olympics China, reported
proudly that “Special Olympics started
from 50,000 [athletes] in 2000 in China
to over 800 thousand (athletes) now.”
Eunice Kennedy Shriver with Young Athletes
participants and Professor Zhou at 2007 Special
Olympics World Games, Shanghai, China
The little country of East Timor
in Southeast Asia was represented by
only one team member in Shanghai
– Alcino Pereira, a tiny man known to
the people of his city as “the running
man,” because he spent his days running
through the streets. His coach said that
there are many people with disabilities
in East Timor, but “the facilities, the
human resources, the understanding
is not there.” Pereira’s participation in
the 10,000 meter Special Olympics race
has no doubt raised the awareness of his
community and his nation.
All Kinds of Games
“Our deepest commitment is to show the world the power of real athletes - who train with
determination, compete to the best of their ability, achieve the extraordinary and exemplify
courage at every turn.”
Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver, Ph.D
New sports were added to the Summer
and Winter World Games whenever there
was need or interest. Currently, there are
32 Special Olympics sports ranging from
Alpine skiing to volleyball. Programs
such as Motor-Activity Training (MATP)
and play activities introduce children to
motor skills and eye-hand coordination.
Figure skating, speed skating and bowling
represent the kind of activities that a
single individual can undertake. Team
Sports – volleyball, basketball, and floor
hockey – add developmental opportunities
that go beyond motor skills. They offer
interaction with other children who also
have intellectual disabilities.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver at 2006 Special
Olympics US National Games, Ames, Iowa
with Special Olympics Missouri Softball
team. Every interaction between Eunice and
a Special Olympics athlete was meaningful.
And as one athlete commented, “Everything
she has said the athletes to be, she is herself.”
Special Olympics Unified Sports™
program, launched in 1989, takes team
interaction a step further. Special
Olympics athletes participate in sports
with partners without intellectual
disabilities. Careful planning to match
both groups by age and ability results in
expanding sports opportunities for all.
The Unified Sports™ agenda
includes basketball, bowling, distance
running, football (soccer), softball
and volleyball. The benefits of this
program are many – learning new sports,
making new friends, and acquiring
an understanding of individuals
with different capabilities. Special
Olympics athletes, who are seeking
new challenges, have additional
opportunities for participation in the
wider community. In the international
arena, the Unified Sports™ basketball
team from Uzbekistan was the gold
medal winner at the 2007 Shanghai
World Games.
The bronze medal-winning South
African Unified basketball team was
not only a blend of differing intellectual
capabilities, but of different races.
Part of the Wider World
“Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.”
Sarah Bernhardt
Special Olympics can serve as
a doorway to a wider world. After
experiencing Special Olympics Games,
some athletes join in events that were
previously closed to their participation.
One of these is the Tiburon Mile, an
annual swimming event held in the
San Francisco Bay area. Over an eight
year period, this event raised more than
$650,000 for Special Olympics Northern
California.
At the Tiburon Mile event in 2008,
participants included individuals from
many backgrounds and a broad range
of abilities. A total of 759 swimmers,
including Olympic athletes from 20
countries, joined in the world’s most
competitive open water swim. The seven
Special Olympics swimmers included
competitors from Ireland and Trinidad
in addition to those from the United
States. Ancil Greene from Trinidad
had this to say about the experience,
“I enjoyed swimming with the athletes
from the Beijing Olympics and getting
to know them. It was fun to vie with
them for position on the swim out and,
as an athlete; I’m accustomed to this
challenge.”
Another integrated event took
place half a world away from Tiburon.
The Borneo International Marathon
included a 21K half-marathon and a 10K
race. Twelve Special Olympics runners
competed with a total of 1,000 athletes.
The Board Chair of Special Olympics
Malaysia observed that when athletes
with mental deficiencies participate
in mainstream events they not only
increase their own self-confidence, but
they give the public a different, positive
impression of people with intellectual
difficulties. He said, “It’s about
involvement and participation, and,
in the process, we learn to appreciate
ourselves and value each other.”
Some Special Olympics Athletes
“...my experience doing the movie [The Ringer]...let people know that people with disabilities
have the same needs as anyone else and they should be treated with respect and be loved.”
Eddie Barbanell, actor, Special Olympics Athlete and International Board Member
Ann Veneman, executive director
of UNICEF from 2005-2010, had this
to say, “Sports play a critical role in the
health and development of all children,
including those with disabilities.” The
younger those children with disabilities
can be reached, the better it is for them
and their families.
In early 2007, a Special Olympics
Young Athletes Program (YAP) was
created to welcome children with
intellectual disabilities between the
ages of 2 and 7 to the Special Olympics
movement. The program made its global
debut in 2007 at the Special Olympics
World Summer Games in Shanghai,
China. To date, more than 10,000
children worldwide benefit from the
Young Athletes program. Through YAP,
volunteers introduce young children to
the world of sport; their goal is to prepare
them for Special Olympics sports training
and competition when they get older.
The program focuses on the basics that
are crucial to cognitive development:
physical activities that develop motor
skills and hand-eye coordination, and
the application of these physical skills
through sports skills programs.
Many reports about children and
Special Olympics illustrate the benefits
of early participation. When Reuben
Murray was eight years old, he had a
hard time at school. Other children
teased him and called him names. When
Special Olympics became part of his life
(he competed in basketball, equestrian
events, and softball), he learned to value
and respect himself. What’s more, other
people began to value him. Now Reuben
is 32, and he has a full and productive
life. Still an athletic competitor, he
also serves as a member of the Special
Olympics Board in his native state of
Idaho. He has had jobs since he was
15, and he found these jobs by himself.
Currently he works at a grocery store
where he is appreciated by his employers
and valued by the customers who love
him and his positive attitude.
A Special Olympics athlete who
has moved from player to game official
is John Fajdich, a tennis player from
Illinois. He participated in Special
Olympics for 17 years, winning multiple
medals. His next step in his devotion
to the game of tennis was to become an
athletic official. Certification for this
position requires an examination given
by the United States Tennis Association
plus officiating at a set number of
tournaments. He has not only received
his certification but is now recognized as
an exceptionally accurate line umpire.
Next step: he hopes to earn certification
as a chair umpire.
David Noel speaks for many other
dads when he described what Special
Olympics did for his daughter: “We
had no idea what our daughter, Tammi,
was capable of. Sometimes we held her
back because she couldn’t handle the
responsibility. She has developed into a
more responsible adult, rather than the
child we saw her as. We are so excited
with the new relationship that we have
with our daughter that we are anxious
to share with other parents that these
athletes are way more capable than we
give them credit for.”
Loretta Claiborne, a longtime Special Olympics athlete and
International Board member was born
partially blind and with mild intellectual
disability and didn’t walk or talk until
she was four. She made up for this by not
only walking but running fast enough
to become among the top 100 women
in the Boston Marathon. A counselor
in Pennsylvania recognized Loretta’s
athletic gifts and helped to channel
them into Special Olympics sports.
Loretta has won dozens of medals in
many different events. She has earned
a 4th degree black belt in Karate and
communicates conversationally in four
languages, including sign language. She
has been awarded honorary degrees
from Quinnipiac College and Villanova
University and has received the ESPN
Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. She
was the inspiration for a movie about her
life, “The Loretta Claiborne Story.”
Not Just Fun and Games
“Whatever limits us we call Fate.”
Intellectual disability is more
common than deafness or blindness,
and it can be accompanied by chronic
physical conditions. People with
intellectual disability are far more prone
than the general population to a wide
range of physical disabilities. Lack of
adequate health care and extensive
underlying medical problems increases
the gap between those with disabilities
and the general population.
Special Olympics provides platform
for understanding the physical health of
people with intellectual disabilities. As
the athletes gather, medical volunteers
assess individual health care needs
and offer advice and support. At the
1991 Special Olympics World Summer
Games in Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Minnesota, the first vision screening
was held with the help of the Sports
Vision Section of the American
Optometric Association. In 1993,
Boston University initiated dental
screenings at the Special Olympics
Massachusetts Summer Games. Shortly
after that, Special Olympics launched
its Healthy Athletes program. The
dental program, Special Smiles, and the
optometric program, Opening Eyes, were
the initial programs and supports. Since
then, others have been added – Health
Promotion, concerned with exercise and
Ralph Waldo Emerson
nutrition; Fit Feet for foot problems such
as ingrown nails, corns, fungus and illfitting shoes; Healthy Hearing to look
for blockages in the ear canal as well as
general hearing ability; and FUNfitness,
a study of exercise and stretching.
At the 2003 Special Olympics
World Summer Games in Dublin,
Ireland, an extensive medical screening
was held to study the most prevalent
physical problems among the athletes
in attendance. Nearly 11,000 individual
screenings were conducted in order
to spotlight the need for better health
treatment and the establishment of health
care policies. This was an opportunity to
fully understand medical problems that
are common in the community of people
with intellectual disabilities.
During the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer
Games in Ireland, Eunice Kennedy Shriver
enjoys her favorite sport of sailing, with a Special
Olympics athlete.
At the 2007 Special Olympics
World Summer Games in Shanghai,
more than 800 Healthy Athletes
volunteers conducted a record 19,000
health screenings. Sixty-nine percent
of all the athletes who competed were
screened. A total of 20% of those
who were vision-screened needed and
received prescription eyewear. Mariam
Zakhary, an Egyptian basketball team
member, received one of the 110 hearing
aids distributed. A Special Olympics
volunteer described Mariam’s reaction.
She said, “Every emotion you can
imagine – joy, amazement, disbelief,
wonder – was expressed on her face.”
With the use of the hearing aid, Mariam
was able to hear the voice of her
basketball coach for the first time.
With the Healthy Athletes
initiative, Special Olympics took a
giant step forward. The games already
had confidence-building elements in
place, plus healthful exercises and the
camaraderie of team sports. However,
direct action taken to promote better
health and health care helps to level the
playing fields for those who work so hard
to succeed despite their disabilities.
We’ll Help Too
“The spirit of voluntarism is deeply ingrained in us as a nation ... In other words, the American
people understand that there are no substitutes for gifts of service given from the heart.”
Ronald Reagan
Special Olympics exists in our world
and thrives today because of Eunice
Kennedy Shriver‘s determined efforts
and unwavering commitment on behalf
of people with intellectual disabilities.
She knew that it was not a one-woman
job. It was not even a one-family job or a
one-country job. It took EKS’ optimism,
her refusal to accept “no” for an answer,
and her infectious enthusiasm to recruit
volunteers, including world-famous
professional athletes, celebrities, and
international corporations, to join in
making Special Olympics a success.
The meaningful work being done
by Special Olympics has captured the
imagination of people everywhere.
Celebrities help shed light on the dignity
of people with intellectual disabilities
and build support for Special Olympics
work around the world. Irish actor Colin
Farrell has helped Special Olympics
For more than 40 years, Eunice Kennedy Shriver attracted
the support of many athletes (such as Pele shown here),
entertainers, and celebrities who act as public ambassadors for
the Special Olympics movement.
raise awareness, change attitudes and
impact policy. In 2007, Farrell joined
other celebrity spokespeople in Shanghai
– Arnold Schwarzenegger, Zhang Ziyi,
Nadia Comaneci, Vanessa Williams and
Michelle Kwan. NBA stars, Yao Ming
and Sam Perkins conducted basketball
clinics and coached athletes.
One important professional athlete
is part of the Shriver family. In 1986,
Eunice and Sargent Shriver’s daughter,
Maria, married bodybuilder and
movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He knew the benefits that come from
strengthening the human body, and
his knowledge and determination
inspired youngsters with intellectual
disabilities. He could frequently be seen
demonstrating the art of pumping iron
for some of his young admirers.
Professional athletes are a generous
and giving group, bringing their prestige
to support the program, and sharing their
expertise. Imagine the pride of a Special
Olympics swimmer when he finds
himself in the pool with Michael Phelps,
winner of 14 gold medals (the most by
any Olympian) and often cited as one
of the greatest swimmers of all times.
Phelps has supported Special Olympics
by conducting swimming clinics.
For every celebrity volunteer, there
are thousands who will never see their
names in the paper or their faces on the
movie screen. These include coaches
who continually work to prepare their
teams for competition and many other
volunteers who help out whenever
there’s a need. As the Special Olympics
family travels around the world, they not
only work with athletes from different
countries, they also meet, recruit, train and
support volunteers from these countries.
The doctors, nurses, and other
medical technicians who screen the
athletes for health problems, diagnose
these problems, and share their medical
wisdom are a vital group of volunteers.
International corporations and sponsors
have also made vital contributions to
Special Olympics. The longest-standing
corporate partners are Coca-Cola and
Proctor & Gamble.
Passing the Torch
“To work is to pray.”
A Benedictine dictum
Despite fragile health in her later
years, Eunice Kennedy Shriver summoned
enormous strength and will. Her
boundless energy, sense of dedication, and
deep religious fervor pushed her to ignore
anything but the task at hand. But Eunice
and Sargent Shriver knew when it was
time to relinquish their responsibilities
with Special Olympics and pass the torch
to a younger generation.
After serving for many years as a
volunteer and leading the 1995 Special
Olympics World Summer Games, the
Special Olympics Board of Directors
elected Timothy Shriver , son of Eunice
and Sargent Shriver, as the President
and CEO. He now holds the position of
Chairman and CEO. Timothy Shriver
has brought his own special talents
and strengths to the leadership of the
Special Olympics. Both his education
and his career choices prepared him – a
bachelor’s degree from Yale, a Master’s
degree in Religion and Religious
Education from Catholic University,
a doctorate in Education from the
University of Connecticut, creation of
the New Haven Public Schools’ Social
Development Project and co-founding of
the Collaborative for Academic, Social
and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
Tim Shriver holds a deep belief in
the Special Olympics worldwide focus
on respect, acceptance and inclusion for
and with individuals with intellectual
disabilities. Since 1996, he has devoted
himself to expanding the movement. His
efforts have resulted in more than two
million new athletes from all corners of
the world.
In developing an ever-widening
international group, Timothy reached
out to an impressive group of world
leaders including Nelson Mandela,
Bertie Ahern, Julius Nyerere, Hosni
Mubarak, and Shimon Peres. They
have all worked with him in planning
Special Olympics organizations in their
own countries. Former U.S. presidents
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush lent
their support and influence to increase
the national and international impact
of the Special Olympics. Tim has also
spearheaded efforts in such war-troubled
countries as Afghanistan, Bosnia
Herzegovina, and Iraq.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver with former President
of the Republic of South Africa, Nelson
Mandela, her son, Timothy P. Shriver and a
Special Olympics athlete.
Duties and Honors
“There was always a special light in the eyes of Eunice Shriver when she saw a child who was
physically, emotionally or psychologically challenged.”
His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Former Archbishop of Washington
Under Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s
leadership, the Kennedy Foundation
was influential in establishing the
President’s Panel on Mental Retardation,
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute for Child Health and Human
Development, and a network of
university-affiliated facilities and
intellectual disability research centers
at major research universities across
the United States. The Foundation
also sponsored the creation of major
centers for the study of medical ethics at
Georgetown University and Harvard.
Because there is a higher incidence
of teen pregnancy among teens with
intellectual disability, the Community of
Caring was created, and sixteen model
centers were established in 1982. From
1990 to 2004, Community of Caring
programs in more than 1200 schools
focused on character education and the
development of five core values – caring,
respect, responsibility, trust and family. In
2005, EKS and the Kennedy Foundation
moved Community of Caring to the
University of Utah where research into
the inclusion of students with intellectual
disabilities in America’s schools could
be expanded. The university established
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Center for Community of Caring and
is providing many new programs and
training in schools throughout the U.S.
and Canada.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan
presented Eunice Kennedy Shriver
with America’s highest civilian honor,
the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He paid tribute to Eunice by praising
her “decency and goodness.” He stated
that “Eunice Kennedy Shriver deserves
America’s praise, gratitude and love.”
Eight years later, President Clinton
awarded Sargent Shriver the Presidential
Medal of Freedom. The Shrivers became
the only husband and wife in history to
have individually received this highest
civilian award.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan presenting
Eunice Kennedy Shriver the Presidential Medal
of Freedom in 1984 – the nation’s highest
civilian honor. Her husband, Sargent Shriver,
received the same honor in 1994 from President
Bill Clinton, making Eunice and Sargent the
only husband and wife to receive individual
Presidential Medals of Freedom.
EKS also received the Legion
of Honor, the Prix de la Couronne
Francaise, the Lasker Public Service
Award, the National Recreation and
Park Association award, the National
Voluntary Service Award, and the Order
of the Smile of Polish Children. She was
also made a Dame of the Papal Order
of St. Gregory and received honorary
degrees from fourteen colleges and
universities including Yale, Holy Cross,
Princeton, Georgetown and Marymount.
In 2005, she was one of the first
recipients of a sidewalk medallion on the
Extra Mile Point of Light Pathway in
Washington, D.C.
As part of the Extra Mile National Volunteer
Pathway, an initiative of the Points of Light
Foundation, U.S. President George H.W.
Bush recognized Eunice Kennedy Shriver for her
volunteer contribution to America.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver‘s Children
“Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.”
Lady Bird Johnson
Eunice Kennedy Shriver leaves a
very personal family legacy. Her five
children, as well as many of her nineteen
grandchildren, are involved in charitable
work and service to their country and
the world.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Sargent Shriver,
and their children, Bobby, Maria, Anthony,
Tim and Mark on her 85th Birthday. Born
into a family that has come to symbolize
public service and sacrifice, Eunice Kennedy
Shriver and her husband, Sargent Shriver,
have instilled that commitment in their own
children and grandchildren.
Bobby: Bobby Shriver co-founded the
organizations DATA(Debt, AIDS,
Trade, Africa), ONE, and Product Red
to help eliminate the financial and
health emergencies threatening people
in Africa. Bobby served as a Councilman
of Santa Monica, California, and has
produced tremendously successful
Christmas record albums that provide
grants and funding for Special Olympics
programs throughout the world. In 2010
he was elected mayor of Santa Monica.
Maria: As an award-winning
journalist, best-selling author, and news
anchor, Maria Shriver has educated
her many friends in the television and
entertainment worlds about the needs of
people with disabilities and spotlighted
the achievements of Special Olympics
athletes. She is also the guiding force
behind the Women’s Conference, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization and
annual forum for women.
Timothy: As Chairman of
Special Olympics, Timothy Shriver
serves more than 3.5 million Special
Olympics athletes and their families
in 170 countries. He launched the
program’s most ambitious growth
agenda and has expanded Special
Olympics’ international impact. His
work continues to change lives as he
continues his mother’s legacy.
Mark: Mark Shriver is the Vice
President and Managing Director of
Save the Children U.S. Programs and
leads the programmatic and advocacy
efforts of Save the Children to
promote the betterment of the lives of
children living in impoverished rural
communities across the United States.
Anthony: Anthony Shriver is the
Founder and Chairman of Best Buddies
International, which he created in 1989
to foster one-to-one friendships between
people with and without intellectual
disabilities.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s Legacy to the
Women of her Family
“When the full judgment of the Kennedy legacy is made … the changes wrought by Eunice
Shriver may well be seen as the most consequential.”
U.S. News and World Report, November 15, 1993
The spirit of Eunice Kennedy
Shriver is still very much a part of
Special Olympics. In her generation,
the Kennedy sons were expected to aim
high, as high as the presidency of the
United States. The daughters shared the
intense family dinner table conversations
and winner-take-all touch football games
and devoted time and effort to the
political campaigns of their brothers.
The Kennedy women also made
meaningful contributions to important
causes. Patricia spent most of her adult
years in Hollywood and helped create
the Kennedy Child Study Center in Los
Angeles. Jean Kennedy Smith served
as ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to
1998 and also created the Very Special
Arts Program for people with intellectual
disabilities. Kathleen supported Red
Cross efforts during WWII but died
in a plane crash shortly after the war
ended. Rosemary, who had intellectual
disability, was an inspiration to her
family and lived into her 80s.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s tireless
efforts in the creation and growth of
Special Olympics are well known.
A look at the family tree illustrates
the achievements of the next generation
of Kennedy women. John and Jacqueline
Kennedy’s daughter Caroline is a
lawyer, co-founder of the Profiles in
Courage Award, president of the John
F. Kennedy Library, and chairwoman
of the American Ballet Theatre.
Patricia Lawford’s daughter Robin is an
environmentalist and marine biologist.
Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s daughters
also carved out distinguished careers.
Kathleen was elected Lieutenant
Governor of Maryland; Kerry is a
human rights activist with the Robert
F. Kennedy Center for Justice and
Human Rights; and Rory is an awardwinning documentary filmmaker and
producer. Kym Maria, the daughter of
Jean Kennedy and her husband Stephen
Smith, is a photographer. Ted Kennedy’s
daughter, Kara, is a television producer.
Eunice’s own daughter Maria built a
highly visible career as a television
co-anchor.
These active professional women
reflect not only the changing role
of women in today’s society, but the
positive influence of Eunice Kennedy
Shriver and her extraordinary
achievements. At her funeral on August
14, 2009, her daughter, Maria, had this
to say: “Mummy was indeed a trailblazer.
She took adversity and turned it into
advantage. Inspired by the rejection she
saw many women face, especially her
sister Rosemary and her mother, and
other mothers of special children, she
turned that into her life’s focus and her
life’s passion and mission ... She believed
100 percent in the power and the gifts
of women to change the language, the
tempo, and the character of this world.”
In final praise of her mother, Maria
characterized her as a “torchbearer for
the women of our time.”
At the time of her death, the Shriver
family issued the following statement
about Eunice Kennedy Shriver: “She set
out to change the world and to change
us, and she did that and more ... Her
work transformed the lives of hundreds
of millions of people across the globe,
and they ... are her living legacy.”
Chronology
1962 C
amp Shriver, a day camp
for children with intellectual
disabilities held at the Shriver
home in Maryland
1968 F irst International Special
Olympics Summer Games, at
Soldier Field, Chicago – 1,000
athletes competing from 26 states
and Canada
Special Olympics established
as a not-for-profit charitable
organization under the laws of the
District of Columbia
1970 S
econd International Special
Olympics Summer Games, at
Soldier Field, Chicago – 2,000
athletes from 50 States, the District
of Columbia, France and Puerto Rico
1972 T
hird International Special
Olympics Summer Games, in
Los Angeles, California – 2,500
athletes
1981 A
training and certification
program for coaches is launched,
and the first Sports Skills Guide is
published.
Second International Special
Olympics Winter Games, held in
the villages of Smugglers’ Notch
and Stowe, Vermont – 600 athletes
1983 S
ixth International Special
Baton Rouge, Louisiana – 4,000
athletes
1985 T
hird International Special
Olympics Winter Games, in Park
City, Utah – athletes from 14
countries
1986 T
he International Year of Special
Olympics is launched at the
United Nations, New York,
NY, under the banner “Special
Olympics – Uniting the World.”
1975 F ourth International Special
Olympics Summer Games in
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan – 3,200
athletes from 10 countries
1987 S
eventh International Special
South Bend, Indiana – 4,700
athletes from more than 70
countries
1977 F irst International Special
Olympics Winter Games, in
Steamboat Springs, Colorado –
500 athletes competing
1988 I nternational Olympic Committee
(IOC) signs an historic agreement
officially recognizing Special
Olympics.
1979 F ifth International Special
Brockport, New York – 3,500
athletes from more than 20
countries
28 Chronology
Special Olympics Unified Sports
is launched at the annual Special
Olympics Conference in Reno,
Nevada.
1989 F ourth International Special
Olympics Winter Games, in
Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe,
California – 1000 athletes from
18 countries
1990 T
hird European Special Olympics
Summer Games, in Strathclyde,
Scotland – 2400 athletes from
30 countries
1991 E
ighth Special Olympics World
Summer Games, in Minneapolis/
St. Paul, Minnesota – 6,000
1992 2 5th Anniversary Celebration –
“Together We Win” – held at
United Nations, New York, NY
1993 F ifth Special Olympics World
Winter Games, in Salzburg and
Schladming, Austria – 1,600
competing
1995 N
inth Special Olympics World
Summer Games, held at Yale
University in New Haven,
Connecticut – 7,000 athletes from
143 countries compete in 21 sports
1997 H
ealthy Athletes becomes an
official Special Olympics Initiative
providing healthcare services
to Special Olympics athletes
worldwide
Sixth Special Olympics World
Winter Games, in Toronto,
Canada – nearly 2000 athletes
from 73 countries
1998 I ntroduction of twelve 30th
Anniversary Global Messengers
celebrates 30 years of Special
Olympics heroes
A Christmas concert is hosted
at the White House – “A
Very Special Christmas from
Washington, D.C.” – to celebrate
Special Olympics 30th anniversary.
1999 T
enth Special Olympics World
Summer Games in Raleigh,
Durham and Chapel Hill, North
Carolina – 7,000 athletes from 150
countries
2000 “ Campaign for Growth” is
launched to reach one million new
athletes worldwide by 2005 – the
most ambitious growth campaign
in Special Olympics history.
Special Olympics China
Millennium March takes place
throughout China
First-ever Global Athlete Congress
takes place in The Hague,
Netherlands – 60 athletes from
every region of the world discuss
the future of Special Olympics
2001 S
eventh Special Olympics World
Winter Games, in Anchorage,
Alaska – 1,800 athletes
U.S. Senate Committee on
Appropriations conducts public
hearing on promoting health
for individuals with intellectual
disabilities. Special Olympics
presents a special report identifying
actions to improve the quality
and length of life of persons with
intellectual disabilities.
First-ever Global Youth Summit
held in conjunction with 2001
Special Olympics World Winter
Games. Thirty-four students
Chronology 29
from around the world, with and
without intellectual disabilities,
discuss how to overcome attitudes
and stereotypes.
Special Olympics African
Hope 2001 held in Cape Town,
Johannesburg and Sun City,
South Africa, launching a major
growth campaign to reach 100,000
new Special Olympics athletes
throughout Africa by 2005.
Special Olympics Get Into It, new
K-12 service-learning curriculum
developed and available at no cost
to schools and teachers worldwide
U.S. Surgeon General David
Satcher holds conference in
Washington, DC to address
disparities in health care
experienced by people with
intellectual disabilities – the first
conference of its kind.
2002 A
National Blueprint to Improve
the Health of People with
Intellectual Disabilities is released
by the U.S. Surgeon General – the
first government report to bring
this issue to the forefront and
promote remedial actions.
The Nelson Mandela Children’s
Fund partners with Special
Olympics to celebrate the birthday
of its founder and chairperson,
Nelson Mandela. In alignment
with the theme, “Unified Sports
and Intellectual Disability,”
Special Olympics athletes
participated in non-competitive,
Unified SportsTM activities with
30 Chronology
children from the Children’s Fund
at the Polokwane Stadium in
South Africa – 35,000 spectators
watch 240 children participate.
2003 E
leventh Special Olympics World
Summer Games, in Dublin,
Ireland – 7,000 athletes from 150
countries
Results of the Multinational Study
of Attitudes toward Individuals
with intellectual disabilities
(most comprehensive study ever
conducted) are released in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, as part of 2003
Scientific Symposium held in
association with the 2003 Special
Olympics World Summer Games.
2004 S
pecial Olympics Sport and
Empowerment Act signed
into law, marking first federal
support for Special Olympics.
Act authorizes US $15 million
annually over 5 years for funding
the growth of Special Olympics.
2005 E
Winter Games, in Nagano, Japan –
1,800 athletes from 84 countries
Second Global Athlete
Conference held in Panama City,
Panama – 78 Special Olympics
athletes, ages 16-50 from more
than 35 countries, come together
to discuss significant issues
Special Olympics Afghanistan
holds first ever National Games in
Kabul – 300 athletes compete
2006 S
pecial Olympics serves over 2.5
million athletes and stands as a
leader in the field of intellectual
disability, making incredible
strides in the areas of health,
education, family support, research
and policy change in over 165
countries worldwide.
First ever Special Olympics
Latin American Games held in
San Salvador, El Salvador – 600
athletes from 18 Latin American
countries
First-ever Special Olympics USA
National Games held in Ames, Iowa
First Special Olympics International
Cricket Cup held in Mumbai, India,
marking official launch of cricket as
a globally recognized sport.
“Special Olympics for Social
Harmony” forum held at United
Nations in New York to create
greater awareness of the global
impact the Special Olympics
movement and mission has on
social change.
Special Olympics Middle East/
North Africa Regional Games
held in Dubai, United Arab
Emirates – 1,000 athletes represent
20 Special Olympics Programs
2007 U
.S. State Department funds the
Eunice Kennedy Shriver (EKS)
Fellowship Program to create
a cadre of professionals to lead
Special Olympics Programs in
developing countries and develop
cross-sector initiatives.
Twelfth Special Olympics World
Summer Games, in Shanghai,
China – 7,182 athletes from 164
countries
2008 U
.S. Congress passes House
Resolution 1279 officially
recognizing Special Olympics 40th
Anniversary. Celebration takes
place at Chicago’s Soldier Field –
site of the first International
Special Olympics Games.
2009 E
Winter Games, in Boise, Idaho –
nearly 2,000 athletes from nearly
100 countries; themed to empower
youth to be leaders of change for
people with intellectual disabilities
U.S. National Portrait Gallery
unveils historic portrait of Eunice
Kennedy Shriver, first ever
commissioned of an individual
who has not served as a U.S.
President or First Lady
Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at
her family home in Massachusetts.
Letters and messages celebrating
her contribution to humanity pour
in from world leaders and ordinary
people around the world.
2010 S
pecial Olympics Unity Cup, in
Cape Town, South Africa
U.S. Regional Games, in
Nebraska, United States
Special Olympics East Asia
Regional Games
Special Olympics Europe Eurasia
Regional Games, in Warsaw, Poland
Chronology 31
Special Olympics Middle East
North Africa Regional Games, in
Syria
First Global Eunice Kennedy
Shriver Day
2011 T
hirteenth Special Olympics
World Summer Games, in Athens,
Greece – 7500 athletes from 180
countries
2013 N
inth Special Olympics World
Winter Games, in Seoul, Korea –
3,000 athletes from more than 120
countries
32 Chronology
Message from Timothy Shriver, Chairman,
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the most
powerful movement of sport, inclusion,
acceptance and dignity that the world
has ever seen. Numbers can never
convey the power of relationships,
the experience of pride, the joy of
winning, or the remarkable birth of hope
and tolerance. But the numbers that
describe our movement are nonetheless
staggering. In 2009 alone, we welcomed
more athletes to our movement than
ever before – over 3.5 million worldwide.
We hosted more competitions than ever
before – over 33,000.
We brought the Special Olympics
movement to places where many
believed the barriers were too high:
massive countries like China, Brazil,
and India; challenging environments
like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia;
poor nations like Kenya, Mauritania,
Myanmar and El Salvador; tough U.S.
communities in big cities and among the
rural poor. And around the world, we
saw the continued growth of our Healthy
Athletes program as record numbers of
health care providers conducted free
health screenings for more than 185,000
athletes in seven disciplines – including
the one-millionth athlete over the
history of this initiative.
Happily, the stories of hope and
passion that our athletes and volunteers
have told for a generation are now
matched by data – rigorous research that
begins to explain real change. We know
from public attitude surveys that we
have conducted over several years that
attitudes toward people with intellectual
disabilities throughout the world are
astoundingly negative. In fact, we know
that in some countries, up to 47 percent
of people have never had contact with
our population.
Through our World Games, Unified
Sports and other inclusive activities,
we are increasing public understanding
and acceptance. Through our Project
UNIFY initiative, we were able to
provide opportunities for nearly 600,000
students to learn about and advocate for
their peers with intellectual disabilities.
Through our Global Football Initiative
and strategic partnerships with football
federations and clubs around the world,
we are capitalizing on the sport’s massive
popularity around the world to recruit
new athletes and reach new audiences.
We know from our research that 52
percent of Special Olympics athletes
in the U.S. are employed whereas the
estimate for the general population of
people with intellectual disabilities is
as low as 10 percent. We know that
33 percent of the athletes we screen
through our Opening Eyes Program have
never had an eye exam. We corrected
that and their vision with free glasses
and sports goggles.
Message from Timothy Shriver, Chairman, Special Olympics 33
Looking ahead, we hope that the
words of Eunice Kennedy Shriver
will echo in the hearts and minds of
Special Olympics athletes, families and
volunteers the world over:
Despite all the progress of recent years,
our special friends are still under threat.
Some would rather eliminate them than
improve their quality of life. Others would
rather cut costs than create real opportunity.
Still others would just rather move on.
For our part, let us make our stand on
human dignity. Let us make our stand on
justice. I ask you: stand up for people with
intellectual disabilities for the rest of your lives!
You may ask, “What good will
come from this for yourselves or for your
country?” This is it: there is no joy like the
joy of unleashing the human spirit. There
is no laughter like the laughter of those
who are happy with others. There is no
purpose nobler than to build communities of
acceptance for all. This is our glory.
Timothy Shriver
Chairman and CEO
34 Message from Timothy Shriver, Chairman, Special Olympics
Special Olympics Program Locations around the World
http://www.specialolympics.org/program_locator
Africa
enin
B
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Congo (Brazaville)
Cote d’Ivoire
Democratic Republic of Congo
Gambia
Kenya
Lesotho
Malawi
Mali
Mauritius
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Reunion
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
South Africa
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Asia Pacific
fghanistan
A
Australia
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei Darusalaam
Cambodia
India
Indonesia
Nippon (Japan)
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar
Nepal
New Zealand
Pakistan
Philippines
Samoa
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Timor Leste
Vietnam
East Asia
hina
C
Chinese Taipei
Hong Kong
Korea
Macau
Europe/Eurasia
lbania
A
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Special Olympics Program Locations around the World 35
Estonia
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
FYR Macedonia
Georgia
Germany
Gibraltar
Great Britain
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99
Kyrgyz Republic
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Tajikistan
Turkey
36 Special Olympics Program Locations around the World
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Latin America
rgentina
A
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
Uruguay
Venezuela
Middle East/North Africa
lgeria
A
Bahrain
Comoro Islands
Djibouti
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
North America
laska
A
Arizona
Arkansas
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bonaire
British Virgin Islands
California (North)
California (South)
Canada
Cayman Islands
Colorado
Connecticut
Curacao
Delaware
District of Columbia
Dominica
Florida
Georgia (USA)
Guadeloupe
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Jamaica
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Maarten
St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Suriname
Tennessee
Texas
Trinidad & Tobago
US Virgin Islands
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Special Olympics Program Locations around the World 37
America’s Third Great Sector
Over the last third of the 20th
century, nonprofit organizations sought
opportunities to work together across
sectors1 in order to share knowledge and
concerns, maximize and quantify impact
and adopt common goals to achieve their
missions and build stronger communities.
The Great Society legislation and the
Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s,
together with greatly increased affluence,
brought ”a quiet revolution” that
transformed the nonprofit sector.2 That
revolution began the growth of a viable
and equal third sector – the charitable
sector – which, “over the past two
decades ... has been growing at double
the pace of its for-profit counterpart.”3
In July, 1985, William J. Flynn,
President of Mutual of America,
speaking at an American Cancer Society
convention in New Orleans, identified
the growing strength of the sector:
hat astonished de Tocqueville
W
was another much more distinctive
American impulse – to join together
voluntarily where there was a job to
be done. He saw the beginnings of what
was to become America’s great third
sector, her voluntary sector, independent
of both government and commerce.
e Tocqueville believed that
D
America might become the first
nation in world history to achieve
all three of mankind’s historic
ambitions at the same time – a
society that was free, prosperous, and
responsive to human needs. It would
be free because its government was
limited, prosperous because it was
free and responsive because it could
focus its prosperity and leisure on
common human needs through its
voluntary institutions. That, I think,
is what we mean when we talk about
the American dream.4
By 1990, Peter Drucker knew, “It is
not business, it is not government, it is the
social sector that may yet save the society.”5
Factors Contributing to the Growth of
the Sector
“We believe, going back to our roots that
each and every individual is created uniquely
with certain gifts and abilities and so whether
you are the poorest of the poor or the richest
of the rich, we can help you discover how
to develop those abilities, whether they are
physical, mental or spiritual. That has
allowed us, from a mission standpoint, to
be innovative and change how we serve the
community over history”6
The three sectors are commonly referred to by the following terms: (1) private (corporate); (2) public (government), and (3) social
(nonprofit).
1
Hammack, David C. “Nonprofit Organizations in American History Research Opportunities and Sources” (Case Western Reserve
University, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol 45, July 2002)
2
3
Aviv, Diana. The Nonprofit Quarterly, Special Section: Accountability, “Earning the Public Trust,” (Summer 2004) 53-56
4
Flynn, William J. Excerpted from “The Renaissance in The Spirit of Voluntarism” (Irish America Heritage Series 2008) 40
5
Oral Interview with Frances Hesselbein, President, Leader to Leader Institute; Past CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA, 27 February 2010
6
Oral interview with Neil Nicoll, CEO, YMCA of the USA, 9 November 2009
38 America’s Third Great Sector
Cultural and social conditions set
the stage
• Rapid societal change escalated the
demands made on society.
• Returning GIs and their families had
significant needs after World War II.
• Great Society programs dealing with
civil rights, poverty, health, housing
and education highlighted unmet
needs.
• Service and voluntarism flourished,
but there were many agencies
soliciting funds and trying to survive.
• Funding sources wanted reassurance
that agencies were doing a good job
in their communities.
• Payroll deduction was conceived for
charitable giving, starting in Detroit
with the automobile companies.
Growing Sophistication
• Movements transformed into
organizations, and organizations
began to ask fundamental questions.
• Organizations recognized the need
for professionalization but had
growing pains.
• Organizations recognized the need
for credibility; they wanted to be
taken seriously.
• New trends began to take shape in
the nonprofit world:
• A new breed of foundation
emerged with entrepreneurs like
Bill Gates finding ways to make
philanthropy more effective.
• There was more discussion about
the potential of sharing good
information, techniques and
organizational capacity building.
• There was greater availability of
data.
• The sector was gaining prominence
by demonstrably improving lives in
our country and elsewhere.7
“Many in the business world lack
an understanding of the challenges many
nonprofit organizations face … building
consensus around vision, not profit, and
reinforcing aspects of performance, other
than financial.”8
“There was also sophistication around the
funding community. Private foundations like
Ford and Rockefeller had already supported
our work in the street academies in New York
but with a very loose kind of funding strategy.
By the late 1970s, there had been a level of
sophistication introduced into the sector.”9
“America’s Promise Alliance is
successful, because we try to do a good job
of articulating issues, raising awareness, and
inspiring people to act. Another part of our
success is the ability to be a catalyst and a
convener, to pull multiple sectors in many
organizations together around a common
goal and a common vision.”10
“In the early1990s, we were forced
by one of our board members to pull back
from running around the country, sit down,
7
Oral Interview with Les Silverman, Director Emeritus, McKinsey & Company, 10 March 2010
8
Ibid.
9
Oral interview with Daniel Cardinali, President, Communities in Schools, 2 November 2009
10
Oral interview with Marguerite Kondracke, President and CEO, America’s Promise Alliance, 20 October 2009
America’s Third Great Sector 39
bring the best minds we could to this work,
both inside the network and outside, and …
codify everything we knew to be an effective
practice. As the organization has grown, we
have had to recalibrate passion and temper it
so that it isn’t lost but ensure that it is at least
equally measured by the deep commitment to
becoming a great organization..., just brutal
commitment to strategic focus, disciplined
decision-making and data-driven decisionmaking. Also necessary was a willingness to
take calculated risks based on deep analysis
and not just a justice-framework or a
passion-framework.”11
“In the early 1990s ... Kellogg was
investing in a lot of nonprofits, saw the need
to have prepared leaders and was willing to
invest in a program to accomplish that.”12
“There is still the need to take a bigpicture view and to lead people to think of
solutions that go beyond the boundaries of
brand and organization. It is as important
as ever, if not more so, to be a voice for bigpicture thinking, big-picture action.”13
“Respect for all people. It was a focus
that was of critical importance then, as it is
today. When we took the initiative early on
to reach out to all girls, it was interesting
how the organizations came together. We
shared this vision of richly diverse, inclusive
organizations that care about all of its
people, just as we shared a vision of healthy,
vibrant communities in our country.14
Working across Sectors
• Nonprofits began the indispensable
partnership between business and
the social sector.
• Business realized it had a
responsibility for taking care of
American society.
• Business had a vested interest in
ensuring that there was a pipeline
of educated young people to drive
the economy forward.
• Nonprofits partnered with business
and the political community to
impact public policy.
“The strength of a civil society is when
multiple sectors work together for the
common good.”15
“Many important social problems require
contributions from all sectors – private forprofit and nonprofit as well as public. Every
part of our society has a role to play in solving
health care issues, improving education,
meeting the needs of the disadvantaged, and
enhancing the arts.”16
“There was also the emergence of
corporate philanthropy. They realized that
doing well and doing good began to have
some relationship; and that business had a
responsibility for taking care of the American
society, and particularly had a vested interest
in ensuring there was a pipeline of educated
young people to drive the economy forward.”17
11
Cardinali
12
Oral interview with Dr. Kala Stroup, Past President, American Humanics, 12 February 2010
13
Oral interview with Irv Katz, President and CEO, National Human Services Assembly, 24 February 2010
14
Op. cit., Hesselbein
15
Op cit., Kondracke
16
Op. cit., Silverman
17
Op. cit., Cardinali
“Basically the Educational and Equity
Act of 1972 provided for students to be
eligible for some loan forgiveness programs
if they worked in the nonprofit sector for
ten years and made regular payments
on the plan, which could then become
income-sensitive. In other words, if the pay
was lower, the student paid less back and
then at the end of the ten years, the loan
was forgiven. So working across sectors,
particularly with public policy, was a place
where we obviously had an impact.”18
Creation of Tools for Sector Development
• Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit
Management: Self-Assessment
Tool; books (27 published in 30
languages), Leader to Leader Journal,
Peter Drucker Award for Innovation
• American Humanics: Certification
process for Nonprofit Career
Development; internship process
for Nonprofit Career Development;
Non-Profit Career Guide
• Degree programs in nonprofit
management (3 in the early 70s,
now several hundred)
• McKinsey & Company: statistical
impact data: Capacity Building
Framework
• National Human Services
Assembly: Peer networking groups,
publications, newsletters, leadership
institutes
“We didn’t focus on financial capital
because there was this hunger, this need for
18
Op. cit., Stroup
19
20
Op. cit., Stroup
21
Op. cit., Silverman
intellectual capital that needed to be, in large
measure a gift, a contribution. There was
never any question about the focus, there was
never any debate. It was all about intellectual
capital ... We learned that when you invest
in the learning of your people, you can
change the world and the organization.”19
“It’s all part of that piece of building
the profession and making sure that this is a
career option that is taken seriously on college
campuses. There was no handbook, no
textbook, nothing about careers in the sector
until we got funding from United Parcel
Service to put out the first ever Non-Profit
Career Guide. It was widely met and won
three or four national book awards.”20
“We were able to pull together
knowledge about all types of nonprofits,
and the teams assembled to serve nonprofit
clients had the benefit of all McKinsey
experience and expertise in serving the
sector. We began looking for patterns
across the sector, issues the sector cared
about, and made intellectual contributions
that the sector was able to use, such as the
Capacity Building Framework. Much of this
material is freely available to the sector on
McKinsey’s website.”21
Collaboration/Collective Action/Shared
Knowledge
• The rapid growth of the sector created
a climate for collaboration to improve
service delivery, the human condition,
and the state of nonprofit management.
• Peer networks helped individuals
and organizations find others with
common interests and concerns.
• The sector became large enough,
significant enough and complex
enough for the organized preparation
of the next generation of leaders.
• The National Collaboration for
Youth was formed and became a voice
for big-picture thinking and action.
“There was a strong sense of
professionalism and collegiality that drove
people from the early days until the present
and beyond. It appears to have always
been not so much driven by external
circumstances but by internal motivation
among the professionals to stay on top of
those external factors. They continually
strive to learn from one another and support
one another as the various agencies attempt
to serve the needs of communities.”22
“They learned very quickly that if you
could come up with innovative solutions in
this field of public education and get decision
makers to pay attention and actually support,
you could create, not just good service
delivery, but systemic reform strategy.”23
“America’s Promise gathered the
President’s staff and secured a commitment
from all the living Presidents to be a part
of the founding of this new alliance. This
was historic because it is the first time in
American history that all the Presidents
came together to lend their support to the
same domestic issue, mainly our children.”24
“If you don’t distribute the power and the
influence and the decision-making, it’s really
hard to have an impact across this country.”25
“I think the ultimate measure of success
is when people adopt a shared goal as part of
their own organizational strategy.”26
“Being a part of a peer community
is a part of excellence in leadership.
Those CEOs and leaders of whatever
enterprise, but in our case non-profits in
the human service, human and community
development organizations, who are open
to learning, open to collaboration, seem to
be the ones who are more than achieving
a mission of their organization; they are
helping to achieve a broader mission of
building stronger communities.”27
“A relatively unique contribution that
the Assembly makes is to find out from
members what their concerns are and to
guide the members to jointly seek big picture
solutions. We seek out those things we can
do together to improve services delivery,
human conditions, and the state of nonprofit management. I don’t think there are
many organizations that really try to lead
their members beyond current thinking in
such a holistic way. I think that is a unique
contribution.”28
Preparation of Future Leaders
• Organizations require core staff
support. There was a need to prepare
people for work in the nonprofit
22
Op. cit., Katz
23
Op. cit., Cardinali
24
Op., cit., Kondracke
25
Oral interview with Joe Haggerty, COO, United Way Worldwide, 21 October 2009
26
Op. cit., Kondracke
27
p. cit., Katz
28
Op. cit., Katz
sector and to develop a pipeline
of leaders for the future. Staff
leaders did not have the necessary
background to lead effectively.
• Social consciousness attracts
students and future professionals.
• Nonprofit management is a career
option that is taken seriously on
campus.
“We invested in the education of our
people for every level, for every person; and
they knew if they needed help, they could
call, and Dr. John W. Work III, a great
educator and key trainer, would come out.
That was our contribution to building the
richly diverse organization. It was a gift
from the national organization to each of the
local councils. It had tremendous results.”29
“We believe – and many in the sector
believe – that management matters, and
that capacity building matters for nonprofits
and for those dependent on their services
and products.”30
“It was the issue of the need for
preparation of people who worked in the
non-profit sector. Many organizations
relied upon volunteer labor but also had
a professional core but there was no real,
effective means to get them the background
they needed to effectively lead.”31
Impact Evaluation and Measurement
“As a society we have to do a better job
in funding effective and efficient nonprofits ...
29
30
Op., cit., Silverman
31
Op., cit., Stroup
32
Op. cit., Silverman
33
34
Op. cit., Silvermanz
35
Op. cit., Katz
We are making progress, but need to solicit
agreement on and support for useful outcome
measures and help donors rely on outcome
measures to guide their philanthropy.”32
In October, 1990, Peter F. Drucker
spoke at a press conference about
the formal launching of the Drucker
Foundation for Nonprofit Management.
A member of the press asked him,
“What will be the first product of the
new foundation?” Peter replied, “It will
be a self-assessment tool.” He went on to
describe five questions:
• What is our mission?
• Who is our customer?
• What does the customer value?
• What have been our results?
• What have been our client’s results?33
“Today the nonprofit sector is better
managed and more organizationally capable
of utilizing its resources effectively. We
believe – and many in the sector believe –
that management matters, and that capacity
building matters for nonprofits and for those
dependent on their services and products.”34
The main focus and activity of the
National Human Services Assembly today
is to be a place where peers in the non-profit
human service, human development sector
can share knowledge and concerns.35
Globalization
“One of my priorities was to carry
our message all over the world and by now
I have spoken or represented the United
States in 68 countries.”36
uring the 1970’s different groups
D
were coming to us (United Way) from
around the world and asking us to help
them set up United Ways in different
countries. We set up a department
with just one or two people. We would
get retirees to go different places and
work with local communities to set up
United Ways around the world.
I n the 1990’s, there was enough
growth that we spun off the
international group and they became
United Way International, with about
twenty staff helping people begin new
United Ways. We now have United
Ways in forty five countries. They are
raising over a billion dollars outside
of the United States. Recently, we
became United Way Worldwide
he reason why international
T
United Ways have been growing in
a lot of places is that people see the
whole world as their community and
not just the town they live in.37
“Understanding the gap between how
Americans and other countries felt about the
social sector was an important consideration
for us. Our European colleagues felt
solving social issues was largely the role of
government. It is a basic cultural issue in
global firms.38
“For whatever reason, we are a society
where people do come together in community
and they form associations and do things.
36
37
Op. cit., Haggerty
38
Op. cit., Silverman
39
Op. cit., Haggerty
40
That isn’t prevalent in a lot of other cultures.
They wait for the government to do it. It’s
just a different individualism. We grant
permission for it. I think the other important
thing is in some ways it’s written into some of
our government leanings, in the tax code and
things like that.”39
“The Girl Scouts are very strong
internationally.”40
Looking to the Future
“The future of America’s communities
and vitality has never been more destined
to fall on the shoulders of the independent
sector and civil society. Most suffering and
death is avoidable. It is important to have
an infrastructure in place to help alleviate
suffering and death in the future.”
– Dr. John R. Seffrin, CEO,
American Cancer Society
“Right now, I think the social sector
is called to move with greater energy and
greater commitment and somehow through
the gift of example, help people develop the
sense of hope and trust. Nothing matters
more. Both here and abroad, social-sector
organizations have a new challenge to build
a greater sense of trust among people and
among organizations. I think we are in a
strong position in the social sector to help
build that trust in the democracy, in the
community, in one another.”
– Frances Hesselbein, President,
Leader to Leader Institute
Showing the Way
Getting Started: Change Begins With Me
These monographs have been written
as a means of informing, educating, and
inspiring people in today’s world to build
healthy, diverse, inclusive communities
– to recognize a need that touches
their spirit and determine how they,
within their own vocation or avocation,
can play a role in meeting that need.
We hope to spark new awareness and
purposeful action in the minds and hearts
of our readers which will remedy and/or
creatively address these changes and
problems in a multitude of ways.Change
Begins With Me!
Awareness
1.Conceptualize: Discover your passion
and the place where your passion
intersects with the needs of the
world.
2.Explore: Seek to know more about
the need(s) you have identified.
Search for more knowledge about
what is currently being done to meet
the need and what more might be
done with appropriate support and/
or talent.
Belief
3.Understand: Seek to comprehend
causes, effects, and creative
solutions. Recognize the significance
of the need and how your
involvement might assist in meeting
the need; as a career choice or
an educator, legislator, volunteer,
journalist, author, etc. Search to
find others of like minds and hearts
to join with you.
Conviction
4.Begin: Take action to right a wrong or
expand human endeavor in a given
area of need. Seek to find the most
satisfying manner in which youmight
be a part of creating positive change.
Remain open to innovation and
opportunity while assessing risk and
barriers to success. Be a model of
integrity and public trust.
Commitment
5.Pledge: Promise to dedicate your
individual resources to being a change
agent. Dedicate your time, talent,
intellect, and treasure to making a
difference.
6.Collaborate: Discover how working
with others can enhance the
strengths of the effort, as well as
adding significance to your own life.
7.Evaluate: Monitor both process and
results for continuous improvement.
Expand the influence and impact of
your response.
Prepare to enjoy the accompanying sense of
growth, fulfillment and accomplishment!
Showing the Way 45
Access Numbers to National Organizations
Adaptive Sports Association
Helps to enrich and transform the lives
of people with disabilities through sports
and recreation
P.O. Box 1884
Durango, CO 81302
970 259 0374
www.asadurango.com/index.html
American Association of People with
Disabilities
Acts as a national voice for change in
implementing goals of the Americans with
Disabilities Act
1629 K St. NW, Suite 950
Washington, DC 20006
202 457 0046
800 840 8844
www.aapd.com
America’s Promise Alliance
Facilitates voluntary action for children
and youth through a collaborative network
1110 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 900
202 657 0600
www.americaspromise.org
Athletes with Disabilities Network
Promotes a better quality of life by
creating opportunities for people with
physical disabilities
2399 East Walton
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
258 475 3623
http://www.adnpage.org
46 Showing the Way
Easter Seals
Provides services for children and adults
with disabilities or special needs and
supports their families
233 South Wacker Dr., Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60606
312 726 6200
800 221 6827
www.easterseals.com
Elwyn
Provides education and rehabilitation,
employment options and community
residential programs for those with special
needs
111 Elwyn Rd.
Media, PA 19063
610 891 2000
www.elwyn.org
Free Wheelchair Mission
Aims to improve the quality of life for
people with disabilities with the gift of
mobility
9341 Irvine Blvd.
Irvine, CA 92618
949 273 8470
800 733 0858
www.freewheelchairmission.org
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation
Works to improve the lives of people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities
1133 19th St. NW, 12th Floor
Washington, DC 20036-3604
202 393 1250
www.jpkf.org
Lifespire
Aims to improve the lives of individuals
with developmental disabilities
350 Fifth Ave., Suite 301
New York, NY 10118
Phone: (212) 741-0100
www.lifespire.org
NADD
(An Association for Persons with
Developmental Disabilities and Mental
Health Needs) Promotes public and
professional interest in developmental
disability; seeks to improve access to
mental health care
132 Fair St.
Kingston, NY 12401-4802
845 331 4336
800 331 5362
www.thenadd.org
National Ability Center
Promotes the development of lifetime
skills for persons with disabilities and their
families
P.O. Box 682799
Park city UT 84068
435 649 3991
http://www.discovernac.org
National Human Services Assembly
An association of leading national nonprofits in the field of health, human and
community development
1319 F St NW, Suite 402
202 347 2080
http://www.nassembly.org
United States Fund for UNICEF
Works to save, protect and improve
children’s lives
125 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
800 367 5437
www.unicefusa.org
Variety International –The Children’s
Charity
Focuses on children with special needs or
serious medical conditions
4601 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 260
Los Angeles, CA 90010
323 934 4688
www.varietychildrenscharity.org
The National Council on Independent
Living
Advances independent living and the
rights of people with disabilities
1710 Rhode Island Ave. NW, 5th floor
Washington DC 20036
877 525 3400
www.ncil.org
Showing the Way 47
Gathering Insights and Understanding:
How It All Happened
A Discussion Guide
Founder_____________________________________
Issue/Need___________________________________
Response to Need _____________________________
Date Organized__________________________
I. What was the primary driver for the Founder
Describe the background, experience, or impulses that ultimately served to move the founder to
take action.
II. How did the Founder initiate the response:
Describe whether the core idea was about helping people (a Helper) or people helping themselves
(a Social Entrepreneur). Describe how and why this might have changed over time.
III. How did the idea for the response originate:
Describe whether the idea for the response was original or if it was an adaptation or evolution of
ideas in practice. Describe the extent to which it was built on accumulated knowledge.
48 Gathering Insights and Understanding:
IV. How did the Founder work with and through others:
Describe how the Founder began his/her work; as a soloist, or as the lead drummer of a band of
change agents. Describe how the interaction with others changed over time.
V. How did the Founder use his/her position to influence others:
Describe the extent to which the individual used his/her position to bring others in positions of
influence to participate in addressing the need(s). Was the approach collaborative or confrontational?
VI. How did the Founder design the model:
Describe how the model served as a style for others to replicate and how. Describe whether the
Founder intended the model to be replicated, or was it accidental.
VII.How would you describe the style of the Founder:
Describe the style of leadership that prevailed; i.e., lone wolf, coalition builder, social
entrepreneur, other…
Gathering Insights and Understanding: 49
Echoes of Past: Parallels in Today’s World
Condition: Then (1970-1990)
Condition: Now (2010)
Economic and Social:
• Severe gas shortages caused prices to
skyrocket.
• High gas prices have a negative impact
on a weak economy.
• Stagnant growth and high
unemployment distressed average
Americans.
• Slow economic recovery and high
unemployment are global concerns.
• Substantial decline in optimism about
the future; rise in cynicism toward all
levels of government.
• Following the sharpest economic
correction since the Great Depression,
outlook is pessimistic.
• Growing homeless population was
reminiscent of 1930s Hoovervilles.
• High unemployment and record
numbers of home foreclosures increase
homeless population.
• Fueled by continued spending on
Vietnam War and entitlement
programs, the federal deficit
mushroomed.
• Deficit spending finances war on two
fronts and stimulation of the economy.
• Value of the dollar dropped
precipitously as investors lost
confidence in the soundness of the
world’s leading economy.
• Value of the dollar has declined as
federal deficits continue at record
levels.
• The gap between rich and poor
increased dramatically in the 80s
with huge cuts in spending on social
programs.
• The gap between rich and poor rivals
the records set in the late 1920s.
• Fear was a driving emotion of the 80s.
• Fear continues to be a driving emotion.
Business and Industry
• Computers were revolutionizing
manufacturing processes and business
operations of all types.
• Computers impact business operations
as well as personal and social activities.
• Society-wide crisis of institutional
confidence.
• Economic woes and fallout from
recession blamed on unethical
practices of large financial institutions.
• European and Asian economies grew
stronger, crowding American goods
out of international markets, creating
the first trade deficit since 1890.
• Trade deficits for the United States
reached record levels.
• Deregulation of the thrift industry led
to the federal bailout of the savings
and loan industry.
• High-risk banking practices and lack
of regulation led to federal bailout of
the industry.
• Federal government bailed out Chrysler
• Federal government bailed out
General Motors and Chrysler to
prevent them from going under.
• Heated debate on the role of the
federal government.
• Heated debate on the role of the
federal government in wake of bailouts
and stimulus spending.
Health, Science and Technology
• Communications became a major
industry.
• Mobile communication devices
continue to expand the industry.
• HIV/AIDS became a national health
issue.
• HIV/AIDS is a major international
health issue.
• Open heart surgery for cardio-vascular
disease became widespread.
• Improved drugs and angioplasty are
widespread in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
• Public education regarding the dangers
of smoking became widespread.
• Continuing education regarding the
dangers of smoking has materially
changed smoking behavior in the
United States.
Growth of the Health and Human
Services Sector
• National nonprofit organizations work
together for greater impact.
• Membership organizations gain
prominence and strengthen
collaboration and collective action.
• National nonprofit organizations share
best practices to increase efficiency
and effectiveness.
• Industry standards for best practices
are being developed.
• A few colleges and universities offer
courses in nonprofit management.
• Several hundred schools for nonprofit
management have been established.
• Cross-sector partnerships begin to
develop.
• The nonprofit sector has become
an equal partner with business and
government
• Tools for nonprofit management
were developed – books, journals,
conferences, seminars.
• Resources for nonprofit leadership
proliferate; webinars become a tool for
sharing knowledge.
• Donors supported charitable causes.
• Donors support organizations with
proven results and measured impact.
Echoes in My Mind: A Discussion Guide
After reading the story and Echoes of the Past, allow your mind to ECHO
THEN and NOW- Reflect, discuss and answer the following questions for yourself.
Founder ______________________________________________________
Movements/Organizations________________________________________
Time Period ___________________________________________________
Conditions and Events
I. Culture and Society
A. What changes in demographics/culture of the time period most closely replicate
changes today? How and where do they differ?
B. What impact did/does the culture have on social responsibility?
II. Lifestyle
A. Identify lifestyles of the time that parallel lifestyles in today’s world.
B. How do lifestyle changes/choices impact social need and response?
III. Business and Industry – Government and Politics
A. What parallels exist today with the economic environment of the time period
referenced?
B. How did/does legislation assist in alleviating social need?
C. How did/does the political climate and ideology enhance social responsibility?
IV. Health, Science and Technology
A. How did innovation in technology assist in mobilizing people to action? Draw
parallels in today’s world.
Making a Difference
I. Characteristics of Social Entrepreneurs
A. Draw comparisons to the character traits, motivating impulses, and actions of
social entrepreneurs – then and now.
II. Community Needs
A. Identify various social needs created by the conditions and events of the times.
Which of them are universal over time? Which specific to that time? Which are
still challenges today? Why?
III. Opportunities to Make a Difference
A. What opportunities were there for service? What opportunities are available
today? Can you perhaps create them?
Conclusions, Major Themes, and Guiding
Principles
Founder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Model: Special Olympics
Date Organized: 1968
Conclusions:
1.Special Olympics Games are an
opportunity to share cooperative
ideals as well as competitive values.
2.Political skills and leadership
qualities can be exercised in service
to a special population group – or in
service to one’s country.
3.Consultations with a broad array of
experts and organizations help define
organizational focus.
4.Personal experience and interaction
bring awareness of need, particularly
for neglected population groups
throughout the world.
5.Recruiting a diverse group of
volunteers helps to turn an idea into
action.
6.Great things often start in small
unassuming ways and are nurtured
by those who care.
7.Determination is a major factor in
success.
8.Direct action taken to promote
healing and better health care
helps to level the playing fields for
those who work hard to overcome
handicaps.
Major Themes:
1.For many of the poorest regions of
the world, television remains a tool
for understanding and acceptance of
others.
2.Family values prepare young people
for a life of public service.
3.Triumph over tragedy ennobles a life
and offers focus for a life of service.
4. Public policy drives momentum.
5.Fun and games help children grow
and flourish and play a critical role
in the health and development of all
children.
6.Sports programs can serve as a
doorway to a wider world.
7.Victims of discrimination are often
ignored and forgotten.
8.Involvement and participation helps
us appreciate ourselves and value
each other.
9.Corporations, domestic and
international, are vital partners.
10.A vital group of volunteers are
doctors, nurses, and medical
technicians who share their medical
wisdom.
11.Meaningful work can capture the
imaginations of people everywhere.
12.The life and work of one individual
can inspire generations to come.
Guiding Principles:
1.Find something to really believe in
and you will achieve more than you
can imagine.
2.Establish cross-sector partnerships,
with corporations, government and
educational institutions to enhance
impact.
3.Use media to foster awareness,
understanding, commitment and
social change.
4.Reach out for highly qualified
professionals in your field of
endeavor, including those with
international credentials, to guide
expansion.
5.Establish research centers to develop
and measure outcomes as guides for
further action.
6.Work with local officials to establish
programs in other countries.
7.Launch parallel programs to meet
ancillary needs of clients and/or
target populations.
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
Legacy and Impact Data
In the field of health and human
services the Encyclopedia of Associations
lists organizations focused on:
Athletics
Human Potential
Birth Defects
Human Services
Cerebral Palsy
Learning Disabled
Child
Development
Mental Health
Child Health
Child Welfare
Neurological
Disorders
Children
Physically Disabled
Community
Organization
Physically
Impaired
Developmental
Education
Rehabilitation
Disabilities
Social Welfare
Disabled
Spina Bifida
Down Syndrome
Sports
Epilepsy
Stroke
Head Injury
Visually Impaired
Mentally Disabled
Social Change
Health
These organizations work to
improve the quality of life, enhance
self-esteem, and advance the social,
economic, mental and physical welfare
for all children and adults with special
needs through advocacy, education,
service, sponsorship and promotion of
educational, athletic, rehabilitation
and vocational opportunities to enable
them to achieve their potential. Many
offer support and services to the families.
Some are membership organizations.
Most operate with minimal staff; budgets
range from $25,000 to $800 million.
While many of the organizations
provide national direction, policy, and
voice, their local affiliates work across
the public and private sections to raise
awareness, provide emotional and
physical support, and raise the dollars
necessary to support their mission. Their
grassroots advocacy networks promote
effective legislation to provide access to
information and care for all Americans
at the local, state, and federal levels.
Community presence is focused on
enhancing lives and providing quality of
life for those whom they serve; building
healthy, diverse, inclusive community.
Health and human services
organizations founded during the 20th
century include, but are not limited to,
the following:
• America’s Promise Alliance
Washington, DC
Founded in 1997
• The Arc of the United States
Washington, DC
Founded in 1950
• American Association of People
with Disabilities
Washington, DC
Founded in 1995
• Children’s Defense Fund
Washington, DC
Founded in 1973
• Easter Seals
Chicago, IL
Founded in 1919
Special Olympics
Washington, DC
Founded in 1968
• Goodwill Industries International, Inc.
Rockville, MD
Founded in 1902
Special Olympics is an international
organization that provides people with
intellectual disabilities the opportunity
to realize their potential, develop
physical fitness, demonstrate courage,
and experience joy and friendship.
Special Olympics competitive games
are held every two years, alternating
between Summer and Winter Games.
Special Olympics also provides yearround sports training and athletic
competition. There are local, national
and regional competitions in over 170
countries involving more than 3.5
millions athletes. In North America,
there are more than 72 programs with
over 545,000 athletes participating.
Special Olympics educates people about
the dignity and gifts of all people. Its
sports and youth outreach programs
change attitudes, teach sensitivity and
enhance understanding of intellectual
disability. Special Olympics oath is, “Let
me win. But if I cannot win, let me be
brave in the attempt.”
• International Center for Disability
Resources on the Internet
Raleigh, NC
Founded in 1998
• Joseph P Kennedy, Jr. Foundation
Washington, DC
Founded in 1946
• Make-A-Wish Foundation
Phoenix, AZ
Founded in 1980
• March of Dimes
White Plains, NY
Founded in 1921
• National Ability Center
Park City, UT
Founded in 1985
• National Health Council
Washington, DC
Founded in 1920
• United Way Worldwide
Alexandria, VA
Founded in 1974
• Variety the Children’s Charity
Los Angeles, CA
Founded in 1928
Contact:
www.specialolympics.org
1133 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036-3604
800 700 8585
Economic Conditions 1970-1990
The 70s
The economy was in the doldrums for the
entire decade
• All the major economic indices
showed alarming decline; industrial
production, new home construction,
and automobile sales fell off
precipitously.
• The federal deficit mushroomed
to $23 billion in 1971, fueled by
continued spending on Vietnam
War, the space program and
entitlement programs.1
the Chrysler Corporation to keep it
from sliding into bankruptcy.5
• As 1980 began, the US economy
appeared to be headed for a
major depression ... Markets for
the nation’s two most important
products, housing and automobiles,
virtually collapsed.6
Economic insecurity for much of the
population
• In May 1975 the US unemployment
rate hit 9.2 percent, the highest
since 1941.
• Value of the dollar on international
money markets dropped
precipitously as investors lost
confidence in the soundness of the
world’s leading economy.2
• “During the 1970s, the sum of
poor families with a man present
decreased by 25%, whereas the total
of poor families headed by women
increased by almost 39%.”7
• In 1973, inflation reached 12%.3
• ... one quarter of those Americans
older than 65 years of age lived in
poverty ...”The old and the young
have three common traits,” …”Both
have no money, no power, and no
identity.”8
• The oil embargo of 1973 caused
sharp, severe gas shortages. President
Carter called the Energy Crisis “the
moral equivalent of war,” urging
Americans to get used to an era
of limits.4
• In 1979, President Carter
recommended, and Congress
approved, a $1.5 billion bailout of
• “Decades of “white flight” to the
suburbs had reduced the white
population (including whites of
Hispanic origin) from 95% in 1950
1
Woods, Randall Bennett, Quest for Identity (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 311.
2
Ibid. P. 311.
3
Jewell, Elizabeth, U.S. Presidents Factbook (New York: Random House Reference, Random House, 2005) 362.
4
Bennett, William J. America, The Last Best Hope (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2007) 462.
5
Blank, Carla. Rediscovering America: The Making of Multicultural America (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003) 358.
6
Op. cit., Woods, P. 432.
7
8
Op. cit., Woods, 370-71.
to 60% in l980 ... what you saw
was low income, high crime, poor
schools, burned-out buildings, acres
of vacant lots used as dumping
grounds, abandoned cars, and the
night lit by fires. The smell of smoke
hung in the air, mixed with the
stench of rotting trash.”9
The 80s
The “theme park” images of the 80s:
• the growing homeless population
reminding many of the Hoovervilles
that followed on the collapse of
prosperity of the 20s;
• the deepening chasm separating
America’s rich and poor;
• the arrival of AIDS and the drug
epidemic in the inner cities;
• soaring deficits increased by
Ronald Reagan’s ambitious defense
spending;
• the 1986 Iran-Contra scandal
recalling the embarrassment of
Watergate;
• the insider trading scandals;
• the 1987 market crash, the first since
1929.10
Funding of social programs decreased and
funding for defense rose
• [In 1981], “The U.S. economy was
in serious trouble ... “Stagflation
9
meant high unemployment and
punishing interest rates. Americans
grumbled as they lined up for
rationed gasoline.”11
• [Also in 1981], “President Reagan …
announced his plan for the largest
tax cut in American history.”12
• Through 1984, there were $140
billion of cuts in social programs
and an increase of $181 billion for
defense.
• Tax cuts, coupled with a 41% real
increase in defense spending, sent
the deficit soaring from $90 billion
in 1982 to $283 billion in 1986.
To finance the deficit, the federal
government had to borrow at home
and abroad.13
• Supply-side policies doubled the
percentage of the nation’s wealth
going to the top 1% of earners from
8.1% to almost 15%.14
• “the great numbers of people
whom the nation’s new wealth
never reached, the underclass
roaming jobless through America’s
continuing decaying cities, and
especially the homeless, … in an
increasingly visible street population
that … put the lie to claims that the
nation was back on its feet.”15
• There was a departure of industry
from urban centers and the rise of a
Putnam, Robert D. and Lewis M. Feldstein, Better Together (New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2004) 77.
10
Jennings, Peter and Todd Brewster, The Century (New York: Doubleday, 1998) 471-473.
11
Op. cit., Bennett, P. 481.
12
Op. cit., Bennett, P. 481
13
14
Op. cit., Woods, PP. 460-61.
15
Op. cit., Jennings, P. 486.
service economy which created part
time work and lower paying jobs for
black Americans
• “Unemployment touched an
astounding 10%, while inflation
continued at a double-digit rate and
the prime interest rate hovered near
20%.”16
• Despite a rash of business failures,
an increase in homelessness and
substantial Democratic gains in
Congress in 1982, Reagan refused
to reject the concept of supply-side
economics.17
• “Supply-side economics both
stimulated and reflected what
historians have referred to as a
“culture of greed,” a pervasive selfcentered acquisitiveness that seemed
to pervade the 1980s…”20
• “Like no other time since the 1920s,
America in the mid-80s embraced a
culture of money and glitz.”21
Stock market soared and crashed
• 1986 – Stock market prices reached
all time highs
• “The rash of corporate mergers drove
stock prices ever upward and brought
about an inevitable crash on Wall
Street in 1987.”18
• “Junk-bond dealing and irresponsible
mergers started the nose dive, but
economists … declared that the
massive decline was due in large
part to the federal government’s
deficit spending and America’s trade
imbalance.”19
16
Op. cit., Woods, P.448.
17
18
Op. cit., Woods, PP. 460-61.
19
20
21
Gilbert, Martin, A History of the Twentieth Century (New York: Perennial, 2002) 484.
Political Climate 1970-1990
The 70s
1968: Richard M. Nixon elected President
1972: Richard M. Nixon re-elected
1974: Vice-President Gerald Ford
appointed President after Nixon’s
resignation
1976: Jimmy Carter elected President
Americans distrusted their government and
other institutions
• Americans’ sense that they had been
lied to and deliberately deceived
during crucial periods in the
Vietnam War created an attitude of
deep cynicism toward government at
all levels, but particularly the federal
government.1
• Polls showed “widespread, basic
discontent and political alienation.”2
impeachment of President Nixon. On
August 8, 1974, Nixon resigned.”4
• Americans celebrated their
bicentennial, yet this most patriotic
of moments came at a time when
the nation felt decidedly unpatriotic,
confused about what it meant to be
an American and not sure that it
was such a great thing to be anyway.
Movements formed
• The US invasion of Cambodia in
1970 intensified anti-Vietnam War
demonstrations around the world.
• An antiwar demonstration at Kent
State University led to violence as
national guardsmen fired on a crowd
of student protesters, killing four, on
May 4, 1970.6
• Presidential politics was sidetracked,
momentarily, by the [1972] Olympic
Games in Munich, West Germany.
The Munich Massacre bore somber
witness to the rising specter of
terrorism employed as an instrument
of international policy.3
• Student protests against the ROTC
resulted in canceling of those
programs in over 40 colleges and
universities.7
• As a result of the Watergate scandal,
“by the fall of 1973, eight different
resolutions had been introduced in
the House of Representatives for the
• In April 1971, the Vietnam
Veterans against the war (VVAW)
spearheaded a massive rally in
Washington DC.8
• Native-American demonstrators
conducted sit-ins at the Bureau of
Indian Affairs.
1
Woods, Randall Bennett. Quest for Identity (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 399.
2
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States (New York: Perennial Classics, 2003) 542.
3
Bennett, William J. America, The Last Best Hope (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2007) 427.
4
Op. cit, Zinn, 545.
5
Jennings, Peter and Todd Brewster, The Century (New York: Doubleday, 1998) 425.
6
Jewell, Elizabeth. U.S. Presidents Factbook (New York: Random House Reference, Random House, Inc., 2005) 371.
7
Op. cit., Zinn, 491.
• On April 22, 1970, the first Earth
Day inaugurated the official
American participation in the
growing environmental movement.
Widespread public expression of
concern for environmental damage
encouraged Congress to pass a
National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) ... and to create the
Environmental Protection Agency.9
Significant Congressional and Court action
• In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court
ordered the immediate integration
of all public and private schools
(Alexander v. Holmes County Board
of Education)
• Congress passed the Voting Rights
Act of 1970 which included an
amendment protecting minority
voters from practices that prevent
people from voting.
• Nixon signed the Clean Air Act
on December 31, 1970, giving the
Environmental Protection Agency
the authority to create air pollution
and emissions standards for new
factories and hazardous industrial
pollutants.
• Legislation banning tobacco
advertisements from television went
into effect in 1971.
• Agricultural Act of 1970 protected
and improved farm income.
• Occupational Safety and Health Act
(OSHA) signed by Nixon in 1970
provided workers the right to a safe
and healthy workplace.
• In 1971, Congress passed the
National Cancer Act in full
expectation that millions of dollars
in federal research funds would lead
to eradication of the dreaded disease
within the decade …10
• 1971 – Supreme Court ruled to protect
women with small children from
hiring-discrimination practices.11
• Emergency Employment Act of 1971
provided funding for the creation of
jobs within the public sector.
• 26th Constitutional amendment
lowered the voting age from 21 to
18 years.
• The Equal Employment
Opportunities Act of 1972 aimed to
remove remaining inequalities in pay,
hiring, and the workplace. The Equal
Credit Opportunity Act of 1974
made discrimination in credit illegal.
• January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court
ruled in its landmark Roe v. Wade
decision that the constitutional
right to privacy includes “a woman’s
decision whether or not to terminate
her pregnancy.”12
• The Fair Labor Standards Act
amendments of 1974 and 1977
expanded coverage to workers
not previously covered and raised
minimum wage.
• Equal Educational Opportunity Act
8
Fraser, James W. A History of Hope (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) 290.
9
Blank, Carla. Rediscovering America: The Making of Multicultural America (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003) 327.
10
Op. cit., Woods, 385.
11
Op. cit., Blank, 333.
12
Jewell, Elizabeth. U.S. Presidents Factbook (New York: Random House Reference, Random House, Inc., 2005) 372.
of 1974 created equality in public
schools. In addition to requiring
schools to provide equal facilities
and access to teachers in public
education, it also made bilingual
education programs available for
Hispanic students.13
• Employee Retirement Security
Act (ERISA) enacted in 1974
protected the interests of employee
benefit plan participants and their
beneficiaries.14
• The Indian Self-Determination Act
(1974) restored the legal status of
Native American tribes and gave
them partial control over federal
programs on their soil.
• On November 9, 1975, the Education
for All Handicapped Children Act
was passed. It mandated free public
education for handicapped children.15
• Jimmy Carter’s victory in 1976
proved the power of the African
American vote. Carter appointed
many African Americans to high
level positions in the administration
and ambassadorial posts.16
The 80s
1980: Ronald Reagan elected President
1984: Ronald Reagan re-elected
1988: George Bush elected President
Supply-side economics
• Columnist George Will summed up
the Reagan agenda: “Government
is too big, it taxes too much, and
the Soviets are getting away with
murder.”17
• In his Inaugural address, Reagan
stated that “government is not the
solution to the problem; government
is the problem.”18
• Supply-side economics dominated
the decade, and supply-side policies
doubled the percentage of the
nation’s wealth going to the top
1% of earners from 8.1% to almost
15%.19
• Reagan’s budget proposed $41.4 billion
reduction in expenditures that came
[in part] from elimination of social
services and reductions in welfare
payments and non-Social Security
and Medicare programs.20
• Reagan rejected the strategy of
détente; ordered a massive military
buildup in an arms race with the
USSR
13
Op. cit., Blank. 347.
14
Baird, John. Promises to Keep: The Mutual of America Story (New York: Mutual of America, 1989) 178.
15
Op. cit., Jewell, P. 380.
16
Op. cit., Blank, P. 352.
17
18
19
Op. cit., Woods, PP.460-61.
20
Op. cit., Jewell, P. 447.
• Critics labeled Reagan’s foreign
policies as aggressive, imperialistic,
and chided them as “warmongering”.
Conservatives argued that they were
necessary to protect US security
interests.
Significant Congressional and Court action
• Refugee Act of 1980 defined the
term refugee to conform to the
l967 UN Protocol on Refugees
and removed previous limitations
imposed by the standing definition
of a refugee as a person fleeing from
Communist persecution. This
allowed thousands more refugees to
enter the U.S.21
• Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986 required employers
to attest to their employees’
immigration status, and granted
amnesty to certain illegal immigrants
who entered the United States
before January 1, 1982 and resided
there continuously.
• Reagan named the first woman to
the Supreme Court – Sandra Day
O’Connor.22
21
22
Op. cit., Bennett, PP. 522-23.
23
24
Op. cit., Zinn, P. 574.
25
• Civil Liberties Act of 1988 issued
formal apology to the JapaneseAmerican community by the US
government, admitting that a
“grave injustice” motivated by
“racial prejudice, war hysteria and
failure of political leadership” led
to the internment of 140,000
Japanese-American citizens during
World War II.23
• Supreme Court made a series of
decisions that weakened Roe v.
Wade, brought back the death
penalty, reduced the rights of
detainees against police powers …24
• 1990 – Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) was approved.25
• Reagan infuriated civil rights groups
when he asked the Supreme Court
to restore tax exempt status to
segregated private schools.
Development of Human Service Sector in
the United States
1800 – Constitutional/Moral Order
• Freedom
and responsibility
• Individual
• Religious
action
base
• Community
activities
1900 – Social Enterprise: Movements
for Change
• Lift
voices
• Activist
activities
• Share
knowledge
• Form
communities
1910 – Informal Organizational Growth
• Social/Health/Children
and
Families/Humanitarian Relief
1970 – T
hird Sector Development
• Human
resource development:
• Staff and volunteer partnership
• Management
• Strategic
planning
• National
organizational
development w/ affiliates,
centralized focus, priorities,
impact
1985 – T
rans-Organizational
Development
• Academic
• Trade
programs
associations
• Sector
interaction
• Educational
• Development
• Philanthropic
• Economic
• Volunteer
– driven
1930 – Formal Organizational Growth
• Community/regional/national
• Dedicated
• Program
staff
development
1950 – Revenue enhancement
• Staff
and leadership
development
of Networks
contributions and
impact
• Partnerships
and
collaborations: leveraging
strengths
1990 – Global Exportation
2000 – Cross-Sector Partnerships
domination
• Legal
and regulatory
requirements
• Interaction
with private and
public sectors
• Formation
of many new
501©(3) organizations
Resources Cited
Stossel, Scott. Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Books, 2004.
Special Olympics publications:
pecial Olympics World Summer Games 2003; Healthy Athletes Screening
S
Data
pecial Olympics Spirit: Volume 12, Number 3; Volume 13, Issue 1; Volume 13,
S
Issue 2
Historical Events and Conditions:
Aviv, Diana. “Earning the Public Trust.” The Nonprofit Quarterly, Special Section:
Accountability Summer 2004: 53-56.
Baird, John. Promises to Keep: The Mutual of America Story. New York: Mutual of
America, 1989.
Bennett, William J. America, the Last Best Hope, Volume II. Nashville, Tennessee:
Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007.
Blank, Carla. Rediscovering America: The Making of Multicultural America, 1900-2000.
New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003.
Encyclopedia of Associations: An Associations Unlimited Reference. National
Organizations of the United States, Volume 1 Part 2 (Sections 7 – 18), 2003.
Flynn, William J. “The Renaissance in the Spirit of Voluntarism.” Irish America
Heritage Series. New York, NY: 2008.
Fraser, James W. A History of Hope: When Americans Have Dared to Dream of a
Better Future. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century. New York: Perennial, 2002.
Halberstam, David, General Editor. Defining A Nation: Our America and the
Sources of Its Strength. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2003
Hammack, David C. “Nonprofit Organizations in American History, Research
Opportunities and Sources.” American Behavioral Scientist 45.11 (2002): 1638-74.
Jennings, Peter and Todd Brewster. The Century. New York: Doubleday, 1998.
Jewell, Elizabeth. U.S. Presidents Factbook. New York: Random House Reference,
Random House, Inc., 2005.
Putnam, Robert D. and Lewis M. Feldstein. Better Together. New York: Simon and
Schuster Paperbacks, 2004.
68 Resources Cited
Woods, Randall Bennett. Quest for Identity: America since 1945. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Zinn, Howard. The Twentieth Century. New York: Perennial, 2003.
---. A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present. New York: Perennial
Classics, 2003.
Resources Cited 69
For more Information
Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things
The Extra Mile – Points of Light
Volunteer Pathway
Mission: To inspire people to build
healthy, diverse, and inclusive community
The Extra Mile – Points of Light
Volunteer Pathway is a new national
monument dedicated to the spirit of
service in America. Honoring heroes
of our Nation’s service movement, the
Extra Mile comprises a series of bronze
medallions forming a one-mile walking
path just blocks from the White House.
Purpose: Record the history of the
human service sector in this country and
share it in a manner which will inspire
individual initiative, as well as collective
endeavors in building community, with
a focus on youth, older Americans, and
emerging leaders.
The Human Spirit Initiative, a
501 3 corporation, seeks to foster
collaborations and partnerships with
the public and private sectors, as well
as social entrepreneurs and academic
institutions to further its vision of greater
understanding of and commitment to
building civil society.
©
Direct Inquiries to:
Kathleen Horsch, Chairman
19 S. First Street, B2506
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone: (612) 860-8468
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.human-spirit-initiative.org
70 For more Information
From the founders of major service
organizations to civil rights leaders, the
20 initial honorees selflessly championed
causes to help others realize a better
America. Their legacies are enduring
social movements that continue to
engage and inspire us today.
The Extra Mile is an initiative of
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approved by Congress and the District of
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For further information consult the
Extra Mile website: www.extramile.us
Order Form:
To buy print copies of our monographs, please complete the form below and email it
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71
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics, 1970-1990

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