Last week I joined the Managing Directors from the other six regions and senior management from Special Olympics International Headquarters in Washington, DC to look at a new five year strategic plan for our Movement.  For the past five years the core focus of the Movement has been on our campaign to double the number of athletes from one million to two million.                     (with Global Messenger Xu Chuang)

The key take-aways from the meetings were very heartening to me.  From our Chairman, Dr. Timothy Shriver, our new President and CEO Bruce Pasternack and the entire senior management, it was unanimous that our new focus should be on providing a quality experience for every athlete at the local level.  Beyond that contributing to local awareness and changing attitudes remain priorities.

Our SOEA staff looks forward to redoubling our efforts in these areas and working with the Programs and Sponsors and other partners to make this a reality.