Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference celebrates IDD opportunities

“When I say BB, you say CT! BB!”

“CT!”

“BB!”

“CT!”

The Connecticut Best Buddies chapter cheered while marching toward the IU Auditorium on Friday night for the 21st Annual Best Buddies International Leadership Conference.

About 900 people filled the auditorium during the conference kick-off, the first event of the conference’s weekend activities, which also included leadership training from professionals in the nonprofit disabilities field as well as a pool and karaoke party.

Best Buddies, founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, is a nonprofit organization that strives to create opportunities for one-on-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Shriver’s “buddy,” Katie Cortelyou, introduced him to the audience and shared her story.

“He told a young woman with Down syndrome that he would not change her for the world,” she said.

As Shriver and Cortelyou stood in the center of the stage, Shriver described the first time they talked at his Massachusetts home, about eight years ago. She told him about an instance when someone asked her whether she would take a pill to rid her of Down syndrome if given the choice.

At the time, she instantly answered, “yes.”

After joining Best Buddies, when asked the same question, her answer is a firm “no.”

“It’s our responsibility to work not just this weekend or this year, but to ensure that people like Katie are accepted and people like Katie are loved,” Shriver said.

Best Buddies affects more than 700,000 people a year worldwide, with accredited programs in 46 countries.

The night opened with a cheerleading and marching band performance to rev up the crowd. Then the Buddy Ambassadors shared their hopes and dreams, painting a picture of a world of acceptance and inclusion.

A selected few also took part in the Best Buddies fashion show, strutting down the center of the stage in their Best Buddies gear.

Emerging hip-hop artist Jay Smoove opened. He hit high notes most female vocalists would envy and threw glitter and roses at the audience.

The celebration truly began when Jay Sean, a U.K.-based R&B artist known in the United States for his Billboard Hit 100 song “Down,” took the stage. The entire audience was on their feet dancing.

Jay Sean also played the first single on his upcoming album to be released in November.

During his performance, Jay Sean pulled a couple of audience members on stage, singing and dancing with them. He plans to air the concert on YouTube, and most of the conference was live-streamed at www.bestbuddies.org/lc2010.

The event touched the hearts of many of the audience members.

“Katie, one of the speakers, made me almost cry,” said Kori Cotteller from Vernon Hills, Ill. “It was really powerful.”