Mary Davis, Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia has worked with Special Olympics for more than 30 years.
A Vision for Change- Mary Davis
"As the umbrella body representing Special Olympics in the region, SOEE's primary purpose is to provide the highest level of service, support and resources to our 58 National Programmes. In doing so the intent is to empower and enable these programmes to make sports training, competition and other opportunities for involvement available to people with intellectual disabilities in their respective countries.
SOEE plays a vital role as the link with Special Olympics International and with major external stakeholders in the region, such as the EU. This external liaison provides the platform for advocating change and driving progress in areas such as funding, public relations and corporate social responsibility.
Much progress has been achieved over the past ten years but we must now build on the success of the past and create a plan to take us forward to the next World Summer Special Olympics Games that will be held in Athens in 2011.
Looking to the future I believe we have the energy, the focus and the tenacity to grow and expand the SOEE programme and to reach our goals in the areas of funding, awareness, management, leadership and quality.
Significant time and resources will be invested in strenghtening current relationships and developing new ones across a broad spectrum of organisations, agencies and communities.
I am very fortunate to be working with a passionate and dedicated team at SOEE and SOI. Together we have the courage to dream and the power to succeed and in doing so we will dramatically change the lives of thousands of Special Olympics athletes the length and breadth of the region".
A proven track record
Mary Davis is the former CEO of Special Olympics Ireland and prior to that she served as Chief Executive Officer for the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Currently she serves on many committees and boards and was appointed by the Prime Minister in Ireland as Chair of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship. Mary has recently been appointed chair of the advisory committee to implement the recommendations
of the Taskforce.
In November 2004 Mary was appointed by President Mary McAleese to serve on the Council of State for Ireland.
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