Where Belonging Begins (with Rebecca Ralston)

<p>In this video episode of Thrive Together, hosts Maya Smith and Jason Lehmbeck speak with</p><p>Rebecca Ralston, Senior Director of Early Childhood and Preventive Health at Special</p><p>Olympics, and an alumna of the Thrive Center’s Innovation Hub fellowship. Young Athletes, the</p><p>early childhood program she has led for ten years, reaches about 350,000 children across more</p><p>than 170 countries. Roughly 53 million children under five have intellectual and developmental</p><p>disabilities.</p><p>The guiding theme of the conversation: ask first, then build. When the idea for a Young Athletes</p><p>app met resistance inside the organization, Rebecca’s team went back to the drawing board</p><p>and ran listening sessions with families, early childhood experts, and health providers. “Let’s not</p><p>let the app be the end goal, but let’s see what families need, and if the app meets that, then</p><p>we’ll be able to sort of fit that in.”</p><p>With Head Start, they mapped their program against the entire set of Head Start standards.</p><p>With tribal Head Start programs, they were told not to arrive with something already finished, so</p><p>they spent years co-building an indigenized Young Athletes. “So instead of just using those</p><p>foundational motor skills to build to soccer, we’re building to the tribal game.”</p>