Creating Social Impact with Technology at Special Olympics

 
You probably watched the Olympics on television before, but have you had the chance to be part of a local Special Olympics event, which supports individuals with intellectual disabilities? If not, look into it; the Special Olympics helps 5.5 million athletes and takes more than 1 million volunteers to run the program in 193 different countries. This takes a massive amount of data to promote successful organization and efficiency.

How does The Special Olympics use information from millions of athletes to enhance the experience and improve involvement?

On today’s episode of DisruptED, Host Ronald Stefanski speaks with Prianka Nandy, Chief Information and Technology Officer of Special Olympics, to discuss how Nandy is helping the audience better plug into Special Olympics as a movement. During the pandemic, the Special Olympics saw reduced athlete numbers. Now, they are trying grow back by understanding who their athletes really are and how they can best be involved through one of many components of their research called “The Athlete Movement Project.”

Stefanski and Nandy also discussed…

How she has used data from 16 million athletes to continue her transformation journey at the Special Olympics

The different levels of engagement available at the Special Olympics

What else the Special Olympics has to offer to participants aside from the actual athletic experience

Nandy described how she hopes the data they are collecting will transform involvement. “We’ve been able to find talent, we’ve been able to find the corporate sponsorships in some cases and we’re starting to come through with a core centralized data strategy…so it’s not just about we want your money to help our organization. It’s about we want your time and your involvement and engagement. And how can we convert you, say, from a donor to a coach, or from an athlete to a coach?”

Nandy is Chief Information and Technology Officer of Special Olympics International and has experience designing digital and data governance structures. She has served in other international positions such as Chief Data and Analytics Officer and Data Program Manager, Technology Division, at World Food Programme. Nandy’s accolades include VPU Team Awards for the 2 Minute Feedback Survey, the Open Knowledge Repository, and the World Bank Finances Mobile App from the World Bank Group. She has a BA in Economics from Virginia Tech and a Master of Public Policy with a Social Policy concentration from George Mason University.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

summer melt
From Freshmen to Founders: Michigan Students Take on Higher Ed’s Summer Melt Crisis with MeetYourClass
May 29, 2025

A growing number of colleges are struggling to convert applicants into enrolled students—and to keep them engaged through graduation. With Gen Z students relying heavily on familiar digital platforms like Instagram and Discord for social interaction, traditional college tools for orientation, enrollment, and community-building often miss the mark. According to research, between 10 to 40…

Read More
Aviation maintenance
The Future of Flight Depends on Mechanics, Not Machines: How Jets MRO is Solving the Aviation Maintenance Talent Gap
May 28, 2025

Private aviation is booming—but behind the sleek jets and luxury cabins lies a hidden crisis. A looming shortage of qualified aviation maintenance technicians threatens to ground growth. According to Boeing’s 2023 Pilot and Technician Outlook, the industry will need about 690,000 new maintenance technicians by 2042. While private jet usage is skyrocketing, the infrastructure to…

Read More
digital learning ecosystem
Stride at 25: Redefining the Digital Learning Ecosystem for Today’s K–12 Learners
May 28, 2025

As virtual learning matures and school choice accelerates across the U.S.,the 25th anniversary of Stride Inc. offers a moment to reflect on how far the digital learning ecosystem has come and where it’s headed.. Once known as K12 Inc., the company helped pioneer online education at scale. But in a landscape shaped by evolving…

Read More
search
From Search (SEO) to Answers with Generative AI
May 27, 2025

In this episode of The Marketing AI SparkCast, Aby Varma—founder of Spark Novus, which partners with marketing leaders to adopt AI responsibly and strategically—hosts Mike Ensing, Founder and CEO of Revere AI. They explore how LLMs are revolutionizing search, shifting the customer journey, and forcing a new marketing playbook where brand discovery is increasingly…

Read More