Twenty years ago, Terrence Thornton, MS ’11, taught high school students with autism. As president and CEO of Special Olympics Nevada, he’s taking a broad view of their mission with a range of programs promoting inclusivity for people with intellectual disabilities.
What experiences helped you grow into your position as president and CEO of Special Olympics Nevada?
I worked for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas for seven years, first as a special program’s teacher assistant and substitute teacher with students with autism. I had a wonderful principal who mentored me, and for three years I led the autism program. I helped a lot of students meet goals that they or their parents didn’t think they could achieve.
Initially, I was intimidated working with people with disabilities because it wasn’t something I experienced before. I gave myself a personal challenge to get over that, educate myself, and understand what someone with a disability requires.
You earned an MS in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Walden University. How has that helped in your role as president and CEO?
I didn’t want to stay in education long-term, and I ended up working the front office for an economic development authority. That got me on my journey of learning more about the management structure of nonprofits. Walden University helped to give me a more solid base.
When I was a student at Walden, I had the unique opportunity and privilege to meet other nonprofit leaders around the world who were doing very impactful work. Through our group conversations, I learned what they were doing and why they were doing it.
I helped grow the organization’s revenues from a $1.3 million budget under my leadership to $4 million in five years. That was exciting because it pushed me to grow in an area where I had very little experience. When I did some soul searching, though, I realized I’m very much a direct impact person. Where that organization did a lot of great work to bring new industry to southern Nevada, the challenge for me personally is that we never really got to see who got those jobs and if that was truly making an impact.
Special Olympics Nevada has filled that void, because not only am I able to help this organization be successful, I’m also able to see firsthand what our work is doing for those program participants.
Special Olympics Nevada promotes inclusivity in a variety of ways. What program is a good example of this?
Our Healthy Athletes program at Special Olympics Nevada is twofold. On one side of the coin, we provide free wellness screenings for our program participants to make sure that their health is intact. On the other side of that, it is a professional development opportunity for physicians and medical professionals to work directly with our population.
What I didn't realize until I came into this role with Special Olympics Nevada is that when medical professionals go to school, there’s very little training on how to work with populations like ours, those with intellectual disabilities. A little over 20 years ago, our national office worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a curriculum to help medical professionals get that training so that they can provide proper care for our population. We’ve been making connections with higher education institutions in our state to see if we can embed that curriculum at the student level. That way we are growing talent in Nevada that is focused on meeting the needs of those with intellectual disabilities.
A lot of times people have not necessarily dealt with a lot of people with intellectual disabilities prior to working with an organization like ours, just like me at the beginning of my career. Helping to provide education can break down implicit biases or fears around being accommodating to someone with a disability. That way they can recognize that, at the end of the day, we’re all human, and we all need somebody to give us a chance.
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