The Power of Inclusion with Anthony Shriver

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Anthony’s connection to the Special Olympics

Prior to founding the Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Anthony’s mother, hosted what was known as Camp Shriver. This camp was designed for intellectually and developmentally disabled people to learn and play sports while enjoying the outdoors in rural Maryland. She would bring people in by bus and show them the joys of swimming and riding horses, among other activities. This was a bit of an early precursor to what would eventually become the Special Olympics in 1968.  Although today the organization is large and more centralized, it started as a more decentralized, grass roots movement with local chapters, similar to how Camp Shriver operated.

What does Best Buddies do?

Best Buddies is a nonprofit that helps create opportunities for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is done, in part, by allowing volunteers to be paired up with a buddy from the program, providing them with friendship and mentorship along the way.  In addition to this, there are several other arms of the operation—one of which is an employment arm that helps people find great quality, profitable jobs. There is also a housing program that helps find homes for individuals with IDD and pairs them up with a volunteer. Anthony believes that we can build a community that involves and supports people with IDD by supporting their unique needs and providing them with a network of people that they can talk to—and even go to for assistance, if needed.

The need for DEI

Although DEI was very popular a few years back, it’s slowly losing its popularity, as some large figureheads, like Bill Ackman, denounce it. Although Anthony is the CEO of one of the leading foundations promoting inclusion, even he thinks that the pendulum of DEI swung a little too far one way.  He believes that although DEI is very important, there were a few years where it seemed that DEI was the only thing that companies were honing in on. Ultimately, DEI should not be used to just check boxes. Instead, it should be used to promote a wide range of thoughts and ideas, as diversity of thought and opinion is really what helps shape the future.

Want more?

I regularly get the opportunity to sit down with some of the most influential and generous people of our time, like Anthony. To see who our next guest is going to be, check out the Walker Webcast.