SPECIAL OLYMPICS SOUTHERN

Other program activities: leadership, awareness, and community engagement:special olympics southern california's other program costs include broadening opportunities for leadership, education, awareness, and community engagement. Athlete and youth leadership programs: special olympics southern california provides athletes with training to develop their leadership skills and use their voices and abilities to inspire others, influence change, and create inclusive communities. Athletes can become coaches, officials, team captains, spokespeople, board of directors members, and committee members. Athletes help guide the direction of the movement and are advocates of acceptance and inclusion for all. In 2024, they trained more athlete leaders than they have in the past eight years, and they created four new athlete leadership councils. Public education and awareness: the organization works to advocate and educate to spread the message about the importance of inclusion and the ways in which it benefits the lives of everyone and our world. With the goal of better educating the public on our programs and mission, the organization promotes its mission and programs through a variety of channels, including direct mail, printed and digital graphics, email marketing, social media, traditional media outreach, content creation, and more. Professional development for staff: this includes staff conferences and team trainings, which are part of sosc's success. By building a strong team culture and encouraging employees to grow, they are equipped with the tools to advance sosc's sports, wellness, and leadership programs. This support for employees includes year-round professional development opportunities and an annual staff conference to develop strategic plans, create consistency within program implementation, provide professional development, and build team morale. Recruitment: sosc recruits volunteers to empower athletes to reach their goals on and off the sports field, building a staff-led, volunteer-driven organization. In 2024, sosc grew volunteer support by 123% compared to 2023. Even with this increase, the organization needs more coaches and ongoing volunteers to reach more people with intellectual disabilities, schools, and communities. Employees are developing and implementing a strategic volunteer engagement plan, which includes increasing the number of skilled and capacity-building roles for volunteers within sports, wellness, and leadership programming, as well as building resources to empower volunteers. With more volunteers supporting the mission, we know we can continue to grow and serve more athletes.while 2024 was very impactful, sosc is also preparing for the future. They are shifting their fundraising approach to one that is partnership-based rather than transactional. They plan to consolidate their customer relationship management software systems from three into one. They created a technology committee, acquired new media monitoring software, developed cutting-edge coach training videos, and are in the process of launching a new website. All of this and more set the foundation for continued growth in sports, health, and leadership programs in the years to come.the impact sosc makes through the power of sports is life-changing. When they impact one athlete's life, it has a ripple effect that positively affects their family, volunteers, schools, and the entire community. In fact, it helps build a more accepting and inclusive world, which benefits all of us.