On December 11, 2025, leaders from the Special Olympics Early Childhood Development team successfully completed a 13-week Fellowship with the Georgetown University Thrive Center’s Innovation Hub. The Fellowship supports mission-driven innovations designed to strengthen the early childhood and education workforce through practical, human-centered solutions. Special Olympics was one of six organizations chosen in this competitive process, recognized for its commitment to advancing the health and wellbeing for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families.
Throughout the 13 week program, Special Olympics collaborated closely with Georgetown faculty, local early childhood implementers, and national partners to deepen the impact and reach of the Young Athletes app—a free mobile app for families of children ages birth to seven. The app provides personalized, play-based activities tailored to each child’s development, evidence-based health information, and opportunities to connect with other families in their community. At a time when families of children with IDD may face significant challenges, including limited access to early intervention, long waitlists for services, and feelings of isolation, the Young Athletes app provides much needed support to families searching for practical, inclusive solutions that support development from the earliest moments and foster community connection. The Fellowship provided structured opportunities to continue improving the App’s reach and efficacy through rapid-cycle learning, market mapping, strategic visioning, and co-design with providers and families nationwide.
“Participating in the Georgetown Innovation Hub Fellowship has been an invaluable learning experience for our team. The Fellowship gave us the opportunity to deepen our understanding of early childhood systems and explore how to better integrate the Young Athletes app into those ecosystems. By learning from experts and partners, we’ve strengthened our ability to reach families earlier and with greater warmth, ensuring they have access to inclusive, evidence-based tools that support their child’s development.”
Rebecca Ralston, Senior Director, Early Childhood and Preventive Health at Special Olympics
During the Fellowship, Special Olympics focused on building pathways to scale the Young Athletes app through early childhood and health systems. Key outputs included: creating a map of systems where families can seek support, developing an engagement framework with tailored messaging and onboarding strategies, piloting these approaches with select channels to refine tactics, and developing an implementation toolkit to socialize these changes with Special Olympics Programs. These steps position the app for broader, systems-level adoption and impact.
“We’re meeting families where they are, often in moments of concern or frustration, and turning uncertainty into connection and hope. By integrating the Young Athletes app into trusted systems, we can reach families sooner, support them from the start, and build the foundation for even greater growth and impact in the years ahead.”
Cassandra Ryan, Early Childhood Project Manager at Special Olympics
Following the Fellowship, Special Olympics will continue to expand partnerships with early childhood systems and programs at the state and national level to support growth and connection. The experience will also drive the ongoing innovation and evolution for the app, with planned enhancements including personalized health content and deeper integration with providers. Guided by family feedback and insights from the Fellowship, these continuous adaptations ensure the app remains a dynamic, inclusive tool that builds pathways for inclusion, empowers caregivers, and creates opportunities for every child to thrive.
To learn more and download the Young Athletes app, visit the Apple Store or Google Play.
