Special Olympics and Golisano Foundation to Host Global Inclusive Health Leadership Summit Monday, September 19 in NYC, and Present 2022 Global Golisano Health Leadership Awards | |
Above: Ann Costello (center), Executive Director of the Golisano Foundation, and Dr. Alicia Bazzano (far right), Special Olympics Chief Health Officer promote inclusive health in Africa | |
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Dear Amanda,
On September 19 in New York City, Special Olympics, and the Golisano Foundation will celebrate a decade of global health accomplishments and trailblazers that have changed lives, saved lives, and created a more inclusive world for people with intellectual disabilities.
Tom Golisano, Paychex founder and chair of the Golisano Foundation, and Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics will host the Global Inclusive Health Leadership Summit: Succeeding on the Front Lines of Health Equity.
The high-level discussion with key representatives of the private sector, governments, and philanthropy including Dr. Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States, on how to give people with intellectual disabilities a fighting chance at health equity. The event, which is by invitation only, will be held Monday, September 19 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at The New York Public Library, at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.
Golisano Foundation Executive Director, Ann Costello and Special Olympics Chief Health Officer, Dr. Alicia Bazzano will present the 2022 Global Golisano Health Leadership Awards to seven global trailblazers worthy of the most prestigious recognition for their work to advance health equity for people with intellectual disabilities in their countries.
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Also speaking, 22-year-old Special Olympics Health Messenger, Gilmour Borg from Malta, whose life changed after he joined Special Olympics. "I had very dark stages in my life. I was refused, said Gilmour. "I was laughed at, I was bullied most of the time and I was neglected by friends. After joining Special Olympics Malta, I was listened to, I was respected, I was understood, I was encouraged, I was supported, I was loved, I found friends, and most important I found a family." Gilmour now educates, mentors, and guides other athletes on the importance and benefits of living a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities around the world have been marginalized for generations – provided poor access to social, educational, and medical services. Their life expectancy, heart disease rates, and severe dental decay are far worse than that of the general population. Moreover, a 2022 Special Olympics study found that people with intellectual disabilities have gotten COVID-19 four times the general population's rate.
Ten years ago this month in 2012, Tom Golisano gave $12 million to Special Olympics at the Clinton Global Initiative to launch the new global inclusive health initiative, Healthy Communities. In 2015 he gave $25 million to expand the successful effort and last year made a third major gift of $30 million bringing his giving to Special Olympics Health to $67 million. With this funding and thousands of new partnerships forged around the world, Special Olympics has trained health professionals and students to treat people with intellectual disabilities, engaged athletes in fitness programming, and conducted free health screenings of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, resulting in a 50% reduction in urgent referrals.
As the father of a son with an intellectual disability Golisano said, “Successful and sustainable community partnerships, coupled with the power of human compassion, can usher in a world of health equity for those with intellectual disabilities. We have proven that and made great progress over the last ten years. There remains an urgent need for more partners from the government, the private sector, and philanthropy to step in and join us to help us realize our global vision.”
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Special Olympics Chief Health Officer, Dr. Alicia Bazzano said, “Beyond sport, Special Olympics champions the health of people with intellectual disabilities around the world through preventive care, health screenings, training health professionals and health systems strengthening in over 100 countries, but the reality is, we need much greater support from all sectors of society, public and private if we are to realize our ambitions for a truly inclusive world for people with intellectual disabilities. We need more people like Tom Golisano who recognize the importance of this work. We thank him and, with his support, we honor those who are champions, exemplifying the ambition, the dedication, and the resilience required to reform the system and foster equity for people with intellectual disabilities.” | |
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2022 Global Golisano Health Leadership
Award & Recipients
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The Global Golisano Health Leadership Awards were established in 2016. Since then hundreds of health champions—leaders and organizations—have been recognized at the regional and global levels for making significant contributions to equal access to health, fitness, or wellness for people with intellectual disabilities. The seven Global Award honorees being recognized this year were chosen from 2021 regional awardees. This is the first time the awards will be presented in the United States. The previous Global Golisano Health Leadership Awards were held in Austria in 2017 and Abu Dhabi in 2019. The awards also promote awareness of the progress and extraordinary efforts toward fulfilling the goals, values, and mission of Special Olympics Health work. This is the highest Special Olympics honor for health partners. | |
Dr. Adib Jaber (Beirut, Lebanon) Dr. Jaber, an ophthalmologist, and volunteer, has led the recruitment and training of local medical professionals that now provide free treatment, including surgery, for individuals with intellectual disabilities across Lebanon and the Middle East/North Africa, increasing the capacity of health systems across the Region.
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General Incorporated Association of Japan Lions (Tokyo, Japan) - Award being accepted by Hideyuki Muraki - Lions Clubs of Japan have demonstrated the true value of service by committing to sustain inclusive health initiatives in Japan. They have engaged in vision screenings, provision of prescriptive eyewear, referral to care that addresses unmet health needs, and preventive care including health education to families of people with intellectual disabilities.
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Rebecca Morley (Montana, USA) In her career at the Missoula City-County Health Department, Rebecca worked tirelessly to champion inclusive health for 15 years, to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities were included in mainstream public health programs. She has recruited and trained hundreds of healthcare professionals from colleges, hospitals, and health NGOs to ensure the next generation of providers can deliver quality healthcare to people with intellectual disabilities. Rebecca ensured that individuals with intellectual disabilities were included in the annual BMI surveillance at local public schools for the first time. This data was then used to advocate for the elimination of using food such as sweet treats as a reward in all classrooms, which became a policy for Missoula County Public Schools and remains in place today.
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Sands China Ltd. (Macau) - Award being accepted by Katarina Tesarova - Nearly a decade ago, resort developer and operator, Sands China Ltd. launched a fund to support individuals with intellectual disabilities in accessing private medical care. To date, 325 individuals with intellectual disabilities have received treatment in dental, physical therapy, podiatry, audiology, Chinese traditional medicine, and acupuncture from 50 practitioners across five designated medical clinics. In addition, hundreds of Sands China employees regularly engage with Special Olympics athletes in health and fitness activities, including those to improve mental health, during and post-pandemic.
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School of Odontology of the Universidad de Valparaiso (Valparaiso, Chile) - Award being accepted by Dr. Jaime Jamett Rojas - For years, the dental faculty at the Universidad de Valparaiso has been training students on conducting dental evaluations and oral health education for people with intellectual disabilities. They conduct community outreach clinics for people with intellectual disabilities and address urgent referrals at the university clinic, or by their mobile unit. Over the past 2 years, more than 150 athletes with intellectual disabilities have been screened and treated for caries, root canals, and the installation of implants and dental prostheses.
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Dr. Serhiy Komisarenko (Vinnytsia, Ukraine) Dr. Komisarenko saw a stark need for Ukrainian athletes with intellectual disabilities to receive free health screenings, which led him to launch Healthy Athletes screenings in Ukraine and advocate for access to quality follow-up care. He worked with the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences to secure the country’s leading doctors and hospitals to provide ongoing screenings and follow-up care to individuals with intellectual disabilities throughout the country
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Speak Up Africa (Dakar, Senegal) - Award being accepted by Yacine Djibo - Focused on public health and sustainable development, leading West African advocacy organization, Speak Up Africa partnered with Special Olympics Senegal to ensure that individuals with intellectual disabilities are included in all public health initiatives and campaigns to prevent malaria, promote vaccination, prevent COVID-19 and improve menstrual hygiene. They used their extensive network of sports stars and celebrities to amplify the message of health inclusion.
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About Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation
Tom Golisano, — entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader — is the founder of Paychex, Inc., the nation’s largest human resource company for small to medium-sized businesses, providing integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, benefits, human resources, and insurance services for more than 730,000 clients in the U.S. and Northern Europe. Mr. Golisano’s vision, perseverance, and action have left an indelible mark on a broad spectrum of issues that touch our lives - in business, healthcare, education, voter policies, politics, and tax reform. His continuing investments are helping drive the success of numerous businesses and start-ups. His personal philanthropic contributions to hospitals — including three children’s hospitals that bear his name — and numerous educational institutions and other organizations exceed $330 million. He has dedicated more than $95 million to advancing inclusive health around the world, including $67 million to Special Olympics, helping to close the significant gap in access to care for people with intellectual disabilities.
A fierce advocate for dignity and inclusion, in 1985 Tom Golisano applied his pioneering spirit to establish the Golisano Foundation to make the world a better place for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With more than $60 million in gross assets, it is one of the largest private foundations in the U.S. devoted to supporting programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities awarding about $3 million annually to non-profit organizations in Western New York and Southwest Florida.
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