Special Olympics CEO Touts the Group’s Public-Health Efforts

For the 4.2 million athletes who are part of Special Olympics, the organization represents more than sporting events—it is a lifeline.

Janet Froetscher, the new chief executive, wants people to start thinking of the organization as the world’s largest public-health program for people with intellectual disabilities.

Special Olympics provides medical care to its athletes, such as hearing aids and glasses, screenings, and physician referrals. It also offers counseling to ease the stress that families caring for a disabled relative often face.

The games themselves are important to provide recognition to people with intellectual disabilities. One mother recently told Ms. Froetscher that the first time anyone clapped for her child was at a Special Olympics event. Stories like that illustrate the importance of promoting inclusiveness for the millions of people around the world with intellectual disabilities, Ms. Froetscher says.

“We have 200 million people who are living lives that aren’t as joyful or fulfilling as they can be,” she says. “All of us as a society aren’t benefiting from that.”

Building community will be a priority for Ms. Froetscher. “People don’t understand that we’re not just a game, but it’s an ongoing interaction that we have with people, families, and volunteers,” she says.

International Growth

She replaces Special Olympics’ longtime leader, Timothy Shriver, whose mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the group. He will remain as board chairman.

Mr. Shriver says Ms. Froetscher’s ability to reach out to corporations was a significant reason for her hiring.

“Janet presented to us the perfect combination—a person who understood both financial capital and social capital, a person who understood people and results,” he says.

International fundraising will be another priority for Ms. Froetscher. Most of Special Olympics’ athletes, 75 percent, are outside the United States, with the largest contingents in India and China, each with more than 1 million participants.

The charity, which has an annual budget of $85-million and receives an additional $20-million in products and services, plans to court international donors during the holidays.

A big source of revenue for Special Olympics is its annual “A Very Special Christmas” holiday album. Now in its 26th year, the album has generated more than $116-million in royalties for the charity.

Although people generally think Special Olympics helps only disabled people, Ms. Froetscher hopes to persuade them that the group also has an impact on other people, too.

“Special Olympics builds the kinds of communities we all want to live in,” she says. “Communities where people are participating in a full way and where we accept each other and support each other.”

Janet Froetscher, chief executive, Special Olympics

Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology, University of Virginia; M.B.A., Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

Career highlights: Chief executive, National Safety Council; chief executive, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

Salary: She declined to provide it.

What she’s reading: Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand