Making History: Special Olympics Colorado Appoint Unified Board Chairs

Special Olympics Colorado Announces a Special Olympics 1st: Board of Directors Appoint Unified Chairs!

Special Olympics Colorado (SOCO) is thrilled to announce Mackenzie Beauvais-Nikl and John Shukie as the new Chairs of SOCO’s Board of Directors. With this appointment, Mackenzie becomes the first-ever Special Olympics athlete, globally, to serve as Board Chair of a Special Olympics program.

Megan Scremin, President & CEO said, “We are extremely fortunate to have Mackenzie and John at the helm. Their combined experience, passion and perspective will benefit our organization for years to come. They embody Special Olympics’ Unified Leadership approach of creating an environment where leaders with and without intellectual disabilities authentically and meaningfully lead together.”

John is the proud parent of three daughters, including SOCO athlete, Nadia. He brings a wealth of knowledge in the sports industry through his work as the President of Forward Progress Athletic Consulting, a company which he co-founded. John is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, received his M.S. in Sports Management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College.

The Board of Directors is a dedicated group of volunteers who devote countless hours to setting policies, overseeing the strategic direction of Special Olympics Colorado and ensuring long-term organizational stability.

Mackenzie Beauvais-Nikl

Unified Board Chair

Favorite Sport: All of them!

Favorite Musician: Cardi B

If you could learn to do one thing, what would it be? Time travel

“This opportunity allows me to lead, to use my voice and to show that people with disabilities can be whatever they want. This is a great opportunity and I’m still in shock that I’m the first athlete to be a Chair of a Special Olympics Board of Directors! I’m hoping that other organizations and companies will see what we’re doing and start giving people with intellectual disabilities opportunities to lead. I think it will be a really cool outcome to show how people with and without intellectual disabilities lead together.”

John Shukie

Unified Board Chair

Favorite Sport: Football

Favorite Musician: Neil Diamond

If you could learn one new skill, what would it be? Fly a plane

“Special Olympics Colorado is dedicated to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion on and off the playing field – through our sports, programming and business operations. What better way to show that the entire organization is dedicated to these principles than to have Board Chairs modeling true Unified Leadership? I am tremendously excited to partner with an amazing leader in Mackenzie. By working together, we are going to be stronger than we ever could have been working alone!”