Special Olympics Southern California Inc

Unified champion schools:special olympics southern california's unified champion schools (ucs) is shaping a generation of young people who will lead us into a future of inclusion. The program spreads acceptance, inclusion, and an active lifestyle for students with and without intellectual disabilities. Ninety-one percent of general education students who participated in special olympics programs reported standing up for their teammates with intellectual disabilities, and 94% of ucs liaisons reported less bullying.in 2024, we had more than 150 schools commit to creating a more inclusive and accepting environment for all students, particularly those with intellectual disabilities. This includes three components:1. Unified sports is a program in which people with intellectual disabilities (athletes) and those without (partners) train and compete together on sports teams. It is inspired by a simple principle: playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.2. Inclusive youth leadership - students with and without intellectual disabilities work together to lead and plan advocacy, awareness, and other inclusive activities throughout the school year.3. Whole school engagement incorporates awareness and education activities that promote inclusion, reach the entire school, and align with the unified champion schools mission.these components provide the most opportunity for creating positive school climates. Through their commitment to inclusion and awareness, unified champion schools ensure that all students, particularly those with intellectual disabilities, become part of the school's social fabric.the organization changes the lives of more than 100,000 students through ucs, and 96% of those athletes experienced improved self-confidence.

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.