Special Olympics Wins 2019 Constellation SuperNova Award

Special Olympics enables global, scalable and on-demand leadership development training from Skillsoft

Boston – February 27, 2020 – Special Olympics, a global inclusion movement using sport, health, education and leadership programs every day around the world to end discrimination against and empower people with intellectual disabilities, today announced it was named a winner of a 2019 Constellation SuperNova Award. With its Leadership Academy, a global leadership development program, powered in part by Percipio, Skillsoft’s intelligent learning experience platform, Special Olympics has developed a transformative training program helping the organization to overcome crucial leadership skills gaps.

Special Olympics’ Leadership Academy was recognized as a leading initiative in the Future of Work: Human Capital Management category due to its ability to successfully apply technologies to gain a competitive advantage and improve employee effectiveness. The innovative Leadership Academy program has been deployed across 108 countries providing employees and athlete leaders with and without an intellectual disability with in-person workshops supplemented by access to on-demand, self-directed learning delivered by Percipio featuring Skillsoft’s award-winning leadership content library. With access to anytime, anywhere learning and more than 700 pre-curated channels featuring hundreds of thousands of multimodal learning assets, participants around the world receive continuous access to ideas and solutions to their leadership challenges.

To date, 365 leaders have completed one or more Leadership Academy modules. Leadership Academy participants have generated $4.5 million in new resources thanks to ideas and knowledge received during the program, built 272 new partnerships around the globe and recruited 40,000+ new athletes.

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“It’s a true honor to be recognized in the Constellation SuperNova Awards for the business impact and results our Leadership Academy has delivered. Developing and deploying Leadership Academy has been instrumental in our ability to urgently overcome various leadership skills gaps and successfully implement a new strategic direction to achieve more sustainable social change across Special Olympics,” said Olga Yakimakho, director, leadership and organizational development, Special Olympics. “In partnership with Skillsoft, we have been able to leverage a modern and robust eLearning solution that has empowered our leaders to be more authentic, strategic and effective while also boosting their confidence and enhancing their approach to building inclusive communities.”

“This year’s SuperNova Awards winners demonstrated excellence in responding to disruptive forces, implemented novel initiatives and proved results with the technical prowess needed for reinventing modern organizations,” said R “Ray” Wang, chairman and founder of Constellation Research. "These case studies embody the necessary leadership and teaming talents needed as organizations move from the post-digital divide into winner-take-all networks.”

Winners were selected from a pool of more than 200 applicants and announced at the SuperNova Awards gala at Constellation’s Connected Enterprise event. The annual awards program recognizes organizations and teams who are building innovative and disruptive programs to create measurable business value and digital transformation.

“We continue to be awed and inspired by the accomplishments of Special Olympics’ Leadership Academy and are thrilled to see this outstanding leadership development program honored by the Constellation SuperNova Awards,” said Ron Hovsepian, executive chairman, Skillsoft. “Look no further than Special Olympics to see the transformative impact of strategic, effective and continual leadership development training—on both individuals and the organization—at a critical juncture where organizations everywhere are relying on their leaders to foster innovation and a competitive advantage.”

To learn more about the impact of Special Olympics global, scalable leadership development program:

About Skillsoft

Skillsoft helps companies unlock the potential in their most valuable asset – their people – by delivering engaging content and powerful technology that drives business impact for modern enterprises. Skillsoft comprises three award-winning systems that support learning, performance and success: Skillsoft learning content, the Percipio intelligent learning experience platform and the SumTotal suite for Talent Development.

Skillsoft provides a comprehensive selection of cloud-based corporate learning content, including courses, videos, books, and other resources on Leadership Development, Business Skills, Digital Transformation, Technology & Developer, and Compliance. Percipio’s intuitive design engages modern learners and its consumer-led experience assists in accelerating learning. The SumTotal suite delivers measurable impact across that entire employee lifecycle via award-winning technology that powers talent acquisition, learning management and talent management.

Skillsoft is trusted by thousands of the world’s leading organizations, including many within the Fortune 500. Learn more at www.skillsoft.com.

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Media Contact
Jen Kaye
Senior Manager, Communications
jen.kaye@skillsoft.com
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