FIFA World Cup host cities have nothing on Minneapolis. In keeping with our Minnesota-nice culture, we’ve proven our knack for creating big moments over and over again: two Super Bowls, Men’s NCAA Final Four, Women’s Final Four, Stifel Loppet Cup, U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials, Women’s PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, and more. While these milestones were spectacular, hosting 3,000 extraordinary athletes and coaches from 52 delegations across the country for the Special Olympics USA Games was transformative.

The stands were full. Each University of Minnesota campus event location overflowed with enthusiasm. It teemed with an energy you felt in your soul—the energy of a community showing up for true inclusion.

And I was fortunate to have the honor of helping to make it possible, creating the strategy and leading the implementation for a program that welcomed 1,000 Honored Guests, from Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics USA, to leadership sponsors and donors. During the process of building that program, I had a front row seat to something worth writing about, something bigger than the value of any one event.

Meaningful Relationships Built on Belief & Trust
When events go off without a hitch, it’s easy to overlook how much time and effort have gone into planning, the kind that extends far beyond a six-month timeline. For example, when I asked Christy Sovereign, Host Committee Chair for the games, how she pulled together a network to help her with the event, she said she started decades before the opening ceremony.

It began with her personal connection to the Special Olympics. Her sister is an athlete who competed in the 1991 games here in Minneapolis, and again in Ireland at the International Special Olympics in 2003. Christy grew up watching her parents treat all three of their children the same, recognizing that everyone has gifts and that those gifts look different from person to person. That belief, that every person deserves the chance to contribute fully and be their whole self, was instilled in her long before she ever chaired a host committee.

That’s the thing about relationships—the kind you can call on when it matters. You don’t build them when you need them; you build them over the years in advance, through genuine, shared beliefs, through showing up when you’re needed, and through consistency even when no one is watching. So when Christy needed 10,000 volunteers, 200 leadership volunteers, and 30 employees to deliver, she had already secured her village, because she’d been building it her whole life.

I felt the same way on a smaller scale. The welcome-gift program I led needed more than what the 501(c)3 Special Olympics could budget. That meant asking my community partners to give from their businesses, not because I was calling in a favor, but because the relationships were already strong.

Giving without Getting
When Christy discusses what she looks for in the people she brings into her circle, she doesn’t cite resources or reach. She talks about people who aren’t looking for a return on their investment. She’s all about people who believe in the mission, full stop.

That evidence was everywhere at the games. Volunteers received a t-shirt and the chance to do things they’d never done before. There were notes of appreciation. Pats on the back. But what Christy noticed again and again was that volunteers realized during the ##? days of the event, they were getting more than they gave—the feeling of doing something together, something bigger than themselves.

The same was true for the businesses that generously partnered with me. They filled the honored-guest gift bags with Minnesota sweet and salty treats, energy snacks, and small-batch chocolate chip cookies, Land of 10,000 Lakes taffy, and popcorn far beyond what was required. Nobody angled for a shoutout. They gave because the mission mattered, and because Minnesota views hosting as a privilege, not an obligation.

A Community Working in Sync
Hosting an event of this scale takes an entire community working in sync. Minnesota demonstrated how corporate sponsors, volunteers, city officials, families of athletes, and small businesses donating product moved together.

As Host Committee Chair, Christy kept our village connected and motivated during the big moments and the long stretches between those highlights. The whole was so much greater than the sum of its parts. Every company that supported the gift program and every volunteer who showed up at the airport with a warm welcome added something that no single organization could have created alone.

Powerful Storytelling Strikes a Chord
Here’s the piece that surprised me most. When I asked Christy how she kept thousands of people connected and motivated across years of planning, the answer didn’t come from spreadsheets or communication plans. It came from simple storytelling.

While Christy was too modest to explain, one of her volunteers, sitting in on our conversation, did: “Christy has a natural ability to paint a picture, whether she’s talking to one person or 1,000. She draws people into the story and makes them part of it with her.”

This exceptional ability is her secret sauce for turning a volunteer shift into a calling…for turning a corporate sponsorship into pride. People don’t rally around a task list. They rally around a story they see themselves as part of.

This belief is what drives Hillary’s work, whether we’re creating a gift, a program, or an experience. They all need a story wrapped around it. Christy proved that at a scale I can only admire, turning an entire host city into participants in something meaningful.

Kudos All Around
Congratulations to every athlete, coach, volunteer, and organizer who made the Special Olympics Games so special and to Christy Sovereign and her team, whose passion and dedication brought all of it to life. Hosting an event of this scale takes an entire community working together. The Twin Cities and Minnesota truly showed what we’re capable of.
Moments like these remind me why I love this community and our state. When we come together with purpose, we create experiences that celebrate inclusion, inspire hope, and leave a lasting impact. This same belief anchors everything in our own work: making people who matter feel like they matter, and building the kind of relationships that are there for you long before you ever need to ask.
Hillary’s Takeaways:

• Build relationships through engagement and continue to nurture relationships so when you need to build a village, you have “friends” to call on, not strangers.
• When people band together for the greater good to create an experience, they can achieve outstanding results that can’t be created alone.
• Creating an experience by involving the community around you can result in moments that touch people’s hearts and minds.

We’ll Help You Build and Nurture Your Village
When you are planning your next milestone and need to create an experience, we are here. Let’s start the conversation. We help organizations make the people who matter most feel like they matter. Call 800-742-6800 or email us today. For more insights, sign up for our monthly newsletter at askhillarys.com (bottom right corner of the page).

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