Haylie: Thanks for inviting me, Spiffy! The Special Olympics is using the power of sport to build friendship, understanding, and inclusion between young people with and without intellectual disabilities. We work with schools around the world to start Unified Sports teams, which are teams made up of students with and without disabilities, who then compete together. In addition to sports, the Special Olympics also promotes programming that focuses on youth leadership and opportunities to engage the entire school population. Through these activities, social inclusion blooms and breaks down the divides. The Special Olympics believes that physical inclusion is not enough. Full inclusion in education requires a commitment to social inclusion.
Meggie: Glad to be with you, Spiffy! When I was working as a news reporter, I (by accident) discovered I was being paid less than my male colleagues. This totally opened my eyes to the pay discrimination women face in the workplace. I wanted to change that so others didn’t have to go through what I went through. And so PepTalkHer and its app were born!
Oliver: Glad to be with you, Spiffy! I’m addressing the challenge of a lack of sanitary products for girls and the presence of period stigma in schools. I attended a school where a menstruating girl would have to go back home and stay there until her menses were done due to fear of frequently facing the chronic issues of period stigma and poverty. I’m solving it by making a pads vending machine and providing it to schools to enable girls who are victims of period poverty to access pads at a very affordable price. I also conducted seminars to ensure that we educate boys and everyone else on period stigma and period stereotypes.
