{"id":174744,"date":"2023-09-27T15:37:34","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T19:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=174744"},"modified":"2023-09-28T09:57:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T13:57:44","slug":"20th-annual-best-buddies-leadership-conference-2023-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/georgia\/20th-annual-best-buddies-leadership-conference-2023","title":{"rendered":"20th Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;174747&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;15px&#8221;][vc_column_text]\n<h3>GEORGIA SENDS 18 REPRESENTATIVES TO THE 2023 BEST BUDDIES LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Atlanta, Georgia<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>August 25, 2023<\/strong> \u2013 Eighteen Best Buddies representatives from <strong>Georgi<\/strong><strong>a<\/strong>\u00a0attended the <strong>2023 Best Buddies Leadership Conference: Reunited for Inclusion<\/strong> in Bloomington, Indiana, from July 21-July 24, 2023.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Best Buddies International<\/a> is a groundbreaking nonprofit founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development and inclusive living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). After two years of virtual Best Buddies Leadership Conference (BBLC) and one year of localized leadership conferences, BBLC returned to Indiana University, with this year\u2019s event theme being <strong>Reunited for Inclusion<\/strong>. The leadership conference prepared student leaders to operate the Best Buddies chapters at their schools, which involves recruiting new members, planning group activities for their chapters and promoting social integration for people with IDD.<\/p>\n<p>The Georgia office, which has approximately 800 participants across its Friendship, Jobs and Leadership programs, was opened in 2019. Georgia sent 18 representatives to BBLC, which consisted of four staff, one Community Leader, three Faculty Advisors, eight students and two Ambassadors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was lovely meeting such a beautiful group of people,\u201d Tonya, the faculty advisor at Cedar Grove High School, said. \u201cI learned and absorbed a lot of imperative information in such a short period of time. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing everyone again next year!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 2,000 students, leaders, volunteers and staff members, representing Canada, Chile, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the United States traveled to participate in the conference. Students, selected to participate in the conference for their active leadership roles within Best Buddies, attended a series of interactive workshops focusing on leadership development, community service, civic responsibility, IDD and volunteerism. The leadership conference was live-streamed and showcased the amazing performances, speakers and education sessions that took place this year.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/georgia\/about\/\" class=\"hb-button hb-default hb-default-button no-three-d\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius: 2px;-moz-border-radius: 2px;border-radius: 2px;\"><i class=\"icon-chevron-right\"><\/i>Learn More About Best Buddies<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;15px&#8221;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;174746&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;174745&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_video link=&#8221;https:\/\/youtu.be\/azDP8NQ3eM8&#8243;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt was lovely meeting such a beautiful group of people.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2080,"featured_media":174747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"ga-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[532],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - 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