Ireland’s Mary Davis has become the first non American to be named as Global CEO of Special Olympics International.
Davis was previously CEO of Special Olympics Ireland and Managing Director of the Europe Eurasia branch of the organisation.
She created one of the sporting moments of the century when bringing the Special Olympics World Games to Ireland in 2003 creating a legacy here that remains as strong today as it did when Mohammed Ali appeared before a packed Croke Park to declare the games open and athletes gathered to stay in host towns across the country.
She was officially announced as the organisation’s global CEO at a gathering in Washington DC last night.
Speaking to RTÉ News, Davis described the role as “exciting” and “daunting”.
She said she had a huge role ahead of her because there were so many people with an intellectual disability around the world who were still excluded.
She said she viewed her appointment as “a reflection of the people of Ireland” and the volunteers in Ireland who had worked so hard for decades to put Special Olympics “on the map”.
Ms Davis said she was very proud and honoured to have been part of that and it was “very special” to be able to work for the movement now on a global stage.
Special Olympics Chair Tim Shriver described Ms Davis as the “greatest motivator” of people to want to do their best for the Special Olympics movement he had ever had.
Davis first became involved with Special Olympics when she was a teacher in Ballymun in Dublin in 1978 and over the course of almost 40 years has worked her way up from volunteer to today becoming the global CEO of the organisation.
We had the pleasure of being involved in the World Games Summit held in Dublin earlier this year looking at the future of the organisation and are delighted that Davis has now stepped into such a global role.
