Kendra Appleheimer, @specialolympics

Thank you for tuning in to today’s full episode of the Breaking Changes podcast. I’m your host and chief evangelist for Postman, Kin Lane. With Breaking Changes we explore topics from the world of APIs, but through the lens of business and engineering leadership. Joining me today we have Kendra Appleheimer, vice president, games and technology at Special Olympics. Hearing about APIs at Special Olympics from Kendra warmed my heart and left me feeling pretty good about the industry that I operate in each day.

I always start simple, start with the basics: who are you and what do you do?

Well, first of all, thank you for having me. My name is Kendra Appleheimer and I’m the vice president for games and program technology at Special Olympics. Before I came to Special Olympics a few years ago, I worked in IT consulting where I really worked on every aspect of the software delivery life cycle as a contributor and as a leader and a manager. So I built up an expertise in business analysis, requirements gathering, testing, I also led development teams through the full delivery life cycle in both agile and waterfall methodologies, and also coordinated across a lot of stakeholder groups, also worked closely with the client. So four years ago I came over to Special Olympics International, where I now oversee technology implementation for Special Olympics at our major games and events and with our accredited Special Olympics programs. A large part of that role is delivering technology for the major games, and that’s really where a lot of the API integrations come into play to enable the functions for these major games and events. And when we talk about Special Olympics, we have these major games and events which happen at an international level, and we’re talking about, like, a World Winter Games or World Summer Games which happen every four years, or large regional events or single sport invitational events. And then we also talk about our accredited programs which are located around the world, so in the US a program level typically at the state level, and then around the world it could be at the country level. And then the program level is really where the day-to-day operations and practices and trainings and games happen for Special Olympics, and then at the international level again is where we have our major games and events.

I love it, you have that blend of business and technical skills, I think that’s really interesting. I see a lot of people have that kind of operate at this intersection of APIs and the world we live in, but most people don’t see APIs, they don’t see this layer that exists, and so that’s very much why I’ve got into this business, because I see the impact that APIs are having on the world, positive and some not so positive. But you mentioned the games and what this enables, kind of the formal Special Olympics impact, but can you speak to the human impact and what this does for athletes and how APIs impact their world?

Sure, and to give you some more background too about myself, the reason why I’m personally so passionate about this is because my older sister has Down syndrome and she is a Special Olympics athlete. So personally I’ve always been involved in the Special Olympics mission and the movement, and really in volunteering in the space of helping people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. And Special Olympics provides sport and health access to people with intellectual disabilities. So what’s important for the Special Olympics technology aspect of our mission is really making sure that athletes have a world-class sporting experience, especially at that major games level. So we have a responsibility, I think, at Special Olympics, to leverage those digital solutions that meet the demands of those large-scale sporting events, and that’s really where the integrations can enable the public getting that information about the athletes, about their schedules or scores, their results, and then also providing that information to the public, helping the operations of the games internally. And then just overall, I think we at Special Olympics are looking at ways to better collect and leverage data internally from our stakeholders, from our athletes, to just continue to improve sport quality and our delivery of our mission.

Yeah, so important, and so it’s such an interesting use case for APIs to kind of elevate folks, to make them feel like they’re part of this competition and this whole community. And this community you touched on a little bit is global, but can you elaborate a little bit more on what the global nature is of your work and your API effort?

I’m sure. So Special Olympics is an international, global organization. It’s estimated that 200 million people around the world have an intellectual disability, and at Special Olympics we have over 6 million athletes involved in over 170 accredited programs. So what that means is, in numbers, over a hundred thousand competitions happen every year around the world. So it’s an ongoing, you know, daily operation that we really have at the local level. And this year alone at the international level we delivered three major events. So first of all, in June we had the USA Games which were in Orlando, and that was more of a regional games, but we had athletes from all 50 states and the Caribbean participating, and that was about 5,000 athletes. We also put on the German National Games in Berlin, which was a test event for our World Summer Games which will be next year in Berlin, but this test event, the German National Games, still had over 4,000 athletes in over 20 sports, and they were representative of mainly German delegations but also international participants. And then in August of this year we had Unified Cup, which was in Detroit, and that was a soccer or football tournament, also with over 20 nations competing in that tournament. So we do have a lot of reach I think internationally at the local level and then at these very large games.

Yeah, that’s quite a scope. I can’t imagine managing that level of scope. I did North American events for SAP, everything from leading up to the conferences just for North America, and I lasted like three years, it was, so I could imagine globally it’s a lot to deal with. What does APIs mean to this, like, why, how do APIs enable you to do what you do?

Yeah, that’s a great question, because at these major games and competitions and events, which is really what I’d like to speak to mostly within the scope of APIs, is really where we can enable that information sharing, either internally or externally. So at these major games, so for example at the USA Games or at the Berlin Games or at Unified Cup, there are a few core areas. So first of all is the timing and scoring system integration. So you could think of that as, at the venue there may be a timing system there for a swimming competition or track and field, so that is an integration with a centralized competition system. And then we also have the information diffusion to the public, which I mentioned, so that is bringing that core competition information out to the website or the mobile app, all of the core information being athlete profile information, delegation information, and then the schedules, and then the results of the competition, and then the medals and placings. So as that’s coming in and as competitions are happening, that information is then updated on the website or the mobile app for the games. APIs also enable the internal operations for the games, and that could be using third-party systems to manage accommodations or transportation, also managing maybe volunteers, medical incident tracking is also a big area, especially in a sporting event, and then finally some other core mission systems that we use at major games, such as our Healthy Athlete system which provides medical screenings for athletes. So when we talk about integrations at an event, it’s what you see at the venue, it’s what you see on your phone in the app, it’s also happening behind the scenes to help the back office operations and really make the event happen.

Wow, and this is all done with rest, kind of web APIs?

Yes, yeah, mostly rest. We do use a little bit of GraphQL, but most of it is rest.

It just shows the scope and the power, I think a lot of people assume rest will only get you so far, but I think it’s pretty much a foundational piece of how we do a lot of what we do. So you touched a little bit on the mobile app, and so who are your consumers of your APIs overall?

So, to also provide a little more context of the system that we provide to a major games, to the organizing committee, the core system provides registration, credentialing, or accreditation, which prints the badge and provides access control, also competition management, which is the core of really Special Olympics competition and our sports rules and making sure competition is fair and also competitive in each of the sports, and then also the integration factor. So the groups that consume this data, that was a question, right?

Yes.

Okay, yeah, the groups that consume the data really touch on almost every functional area of the games that you can think of, because this central system has registration information, it knows everyone who’s attending the games, from the athletes to even family members, media, any staff, any group that has to register and get a credential. It also contains the credentialing information, so that’s the access control factor, and then finally the competition information, and that’s really the core of the event itself. So as you can imagine, functional areas like delegation services, families, media, volunteer management, medical operations, almost every group is dependent on at least some aspect of the information we’re collecting. So we have, I mentioned some of these other systems that are integrating, but we also have some expectations, whether it’s through an API and maybe we point a media group to get schedules and scores from a website, or maybe it’s more manual and it’s more of providing a report or providing a different means of providing that information to the group that needs it. So there’s a lot of dependencies from these functional areas on this data, and it’s really the core of the event itself.

Yeah, that’s a lot to manage, a lot of relationships, a lot of information and data to track. So this show’s meant for business leadership, so I don’t want to get into the technical details, but how do you manage complexity and change across all of this? This is a lot of data and information.

Yeah, yeah, that is the biggest part of it I think. It takes a lot of project planning, change management, stakeholder management, and communication, and also really a focus on trying to get better every time. So we do put on these events every few years, some operations are similar, some are different depending on the host city, but for the most part we really always have our eye on innovation and improvement and having retrospectives. So from a project management, project planning standpoint, there are core aspects of managing the project, managing the stakeholders, and then managing the integrations and how those come together. So I think when I think of this, I really think of just two main areas. I mean, a lot goes into it, but I think as I’ve learned over the years, there’s two big areas that really need a lot of focus in trying to bring all these different stakeholders together and making sure that you’re building systems correctly, you’re building integrations correctly, and you’re putting on these events, or really any project delivery. So I think the first is requirements. And I always feel like because of my background I have a lot of focus on requirements, but the requirements, or business need, however you want to define it, that’s really a core area, very basic but very important, in getting all these different groups together and being able to have them articulate, really, what they’re looking for, help them articulate what they’re looking for before you step into figuring out how to get there. So it’s not just as simple as, you know, this group is looking for a website, but it’s, what exactly are they looking for on that website, when do they expect it to be there, what kind of information are we even collecting, that information. So making sure that’s covered up front, what is the need? And I know that’s very fundamental, but that’s a big aspect of making sure your stakeholder needs are met. And then the second part is the stakeholders and then also the systems they represent, if we’re talking more towards the integration aspect. So the owners of the systems that are integrating need to be part of the process, making sure they’re part of the planning process, articulating their needs, but then also part of the project tasks and milestones, and are kept informed on how things are progressing, informed on the risks, informed on any status updates, and then also making sure that these people and systems are working together. So integrating I think is the end goal, but it’s also a component of getting there and making sure all of these groups are also integrated to the process. I often see assumptions being made in project planning and execution that avoid these two key areas of getting your requirements right and then getting your stakeholders and your systems engaged and involved. And it all comes together with a lot of communication. And again, when you understand your stakeholders, you understand what kind of communication they expect or need. The communication can be formal, it can be informal, it can be through a kanban board, or it could be through status updates, it could be through meetings, just making sure that everyone is talking, everyone has a chance to express their needs, and then everyone knows what is expected of them as the project progresses. So it’s multifaceted I think, obviously, like any project, but I think there are some core areas that I’ve learned over time that are especially important and maybe get neglected or forgotten about or don’t get the emphasis they need, and I think those are really important to be successful.

Yeah, so how much of your job is technical versus people?

Me personally, it’s more people oriented. I do have to say I have an excellent team, all of this would not be possible without them. They’re very focused on knowing the business or helping the business articulate their need, they’re also very passionate about the mission, so that is a great combination I think to help us execute. They know the systems really well, and we also, I mentioned the three major games we had this year, and that was a lot of work, so I do want to give a lot of credit to my team in this area. So me personally it is a lot of people, so either internally or externally, or with the organizing committee or with other stakeholders, so it’s managing the people and the tasks for myself. But also I do, from my experience, have a lot of knowledge on the technical side, so if needed, whether a vendor or a third party system, you know, hey, either has a question or it needs some additional input, I’m available to do that too.

Nice. I think that’s the right balance to have. I’m always advocating that we change the acronym API to be a people interface rather than a programmatic interface, but yeah, because I find it’s mostly about people and relationships and connecting, and the APIs are secondary to what we’re trying to do. So in that same vein, when it comes to business leadership within your organization, but maybe within a stakeholder and partner organizations, do they know what APIs are, are they aware that they exist?

I think within Special Olympics the importance of APIs, whether they know it is an API or integration, the business understanding or the overall understanding of the importance of it for our movement has become more known over the years, and that’s been through demonstrated success, to say, okay, we have this website now, and when we get official results from a competition, it’s available on the website within a couple minutes, and how does that happen? And that’s through an integration. So there’s definitely more of a business leadership understanding that integrations are very valuable to our movement from that perspective, and that’s really the public-facing perspective, and then there’s also the internal operations perspective. And not just at major games and events, but also other operations for health data and research from some of our other systems we have across the movement, being able to pull that in and either visualize it or analyze it, make it centralized for our needs, there’s a lot of different use cases I think that are demonstrating success, really proves to everyone the need for it. I’ll also add that at Special Olympics our strategic plan has now incorporated digitizing the movement, so there’s really more emphasis on improving how we collect and use data, understanding that we do have a responsibility to leverage those digital solutions and really invest in technology and digital solutions. Let me think if there’s anything else I can add. Yeah, I think just overall the last few years has really shown that technology really is helpful, either through how we’re getting information out to the public or how we’re operating internally.

I second that. I would say the last four years every company, enterprise organization, institution I talk to is facing the same with digital transformation, the importance of integrations, and then that control and agility, flexibility becomes, is the API at the center of that. And we’ve done Breaking Changes with Boy Scouts of America, we’ve done it with Formula One racing, with NBA, with Center for Medicaid and Medicare, and they’re all facing the same thing, and they’re having to digitize their efforts and they’re on this journey. So it’s good to hear that your leadership is on the same journey and it’s woven into the mission. But you mentioned your personal connection, your family connection to this, but why do you do this personally? I mean, beyond that personal connection, what keeps you interested in doing APIs and doing these projects and building these connections every day?

I’m sure. So I think from a technology perspective, and a technical and general perspective, I studied mechanical engineering and systems engineering, I’ve always been interested in solving problems, and then through my work experience I saw how the application of systems engineering in software delivery could be applied. So I really personally enjoy technology, providing technology solutions, helping provide technology solutions and solving problems. And I mentioned my sister is a Special Olympics athlete and she has Down syndrome, so from the personal perspective I’ve always been involved in the community of people with disabilities. In high school I founded a club for students with disabilities and students without disabilities to be friends and have activities together, in college my senior design project was a toy for children with physical and intellectual disabilities. So it’s always been, I think, woven into everything that I do. When I first graduated college and moved away, I got involved with the local Special Olympics program to help teach tennis, and then more recently I’ve been helping coach an adult unified tennis team for Special Olympics. Unified tennis is when people with and without disabilities play together on the same team, so that’s been really fun. And other than my Special Olympics involvement, I think I’ve just always found a way to get involved in the community of people with disabilities, so the mission is really important to me, it’s really woven into who I am. And I’m also an athlete myself, so I was a college athlete, so from a sport perspective I am someone who’s played sports my entire life, and I realize the importance of access to sport for anybody. So I think Special Olympics really brings together all of that, it brings together a mission of providing sport and health access for people with disabilities, and then in my role I’m able to bring technology into that as well. So this is really a mission I really believe in, and then the day-to-day work for me is just genuinely fun, putting on these games, attending these events, you know, I look around and at times it’s just incredible that this is my job, I love it.

This is why I do APIs, this is why I seek out API stories, is basically this type of enablement and empowerment. Because I see a lot of tech, and I have to say, it doesn’t always warm my heart or even interest me to be honest sometimes, and to see tech enabling people and connecting I think is just what this is all about for me. So I really appreciate you coming by today and sharing your story, this has been great.

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I would also add, for anyone if they’re interested in learning more about Special Olympics, to check out specialolympics.org or any of our social media channels, and you can learn more about Special Olympics and then also how to get involved.

Yes, that was gonna be my next question, so thank you. Definitely, folks, it sounds like, and what I love about this is it’s not just volunteerism, the usual volunteerism, there’s technical opportunities, like if you want to push forward your tech skills you can get involved and be part of this community, right?

Yep, absolutely. We even have technology volunteers at these games, so if you have technical skills or a particular skill set and want to volunteer and use that skill set, there are opportunities for that too.

See, I think I’m encountering a lot of folks who’ve been doing real well in the tech industry with their careers, but once we came up against COVID, starting to question kind of their purpose in life and looking for avenues that maybe have a little more social impact, a little bit more nourishment for their soul, but they get to apply their tech skills. So it sounds like that this is the place they could find that.

Yes it is.

Awesome. Well, Kendra, this has been great, I really appreciate you sharing your story and coming by.

Thank you so much for having me, it’s a pleasure.

Thanks again to Kendra for stopping by. You can find more about Kendra on LinkedIn and Special Olympics at specialolympics.org. You can subscribe to the Breaking Changes podcast at postman.com/events/breaking-changes. I’m your host, Kin Lane, and until next time, cheers.