The 2018 Special Olympics USA Games opened in Seattle on Sunday at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium with a parade of athletes and musical performances and inspiring moments meant to showcase acceptance and inclusion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was among the dignitaries who took the stage to offer encouraging words to those in attendance. The Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant is the premier corporate partner for the Games. Here are Nadella’s comments in full: “It’s such an honor to be here today. The energy, the enthusiasm in this stadium is palpable and it’s incredible. On behalf of everyone at Microsoft… Read More
Seattle-area businesses — including Amazon, Boeing, and Microsoft — have given $7 million in cash and $2 million in in-kind donations to support the 2018 Special Olympics. Microsoft announced the donations at an event hosted its Redmond, Wash. campus Wednesday. Microsoft is the presenting sponsor of the games, which will be held in Seattle July 1-6. Microsoft kicked off its two-day Ability Summit Wednesday with a series of speakers discussing the importance of inclusion of people with disabilities. Alaska Airlines, Kaiser Permanente, Starbucks, and REI also contributed funds to support the games. The agenda included a high-profile group of speakers, including Washington Gov.… Read More
Each year, Special Olympics International and its 220 chapters worldwide organize some 108,000 events. The games give athletes with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to compete in everything from basketball to bocce, gymnastics to judo. The group’s lofty goal is to “transform lives through the joy of sport,” which has the added benefit of helping erode misconceptions about its athletes. But until recently, one of the heaviest lifts for the nonprofit came from the basic mechanics of running their signature sporting events. There was the job of registering athletes, setting up the matches and competitions and scrambling to tally scores. People… Read More
