On 4 October 2023, Special Olympics was announced as the recipient of the 2023 Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health bestowed by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
“Special Olympics International is being honored as a beacon of light and equality for its decades of service to adults and children with intellectual disabilities.”
The Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health, which carries an honorarium of $150,000, is awarded annually to recognize an individual or organization whose contributions have made a profound and lasting impact in advancing the understanding of mental health, and improving the lives of people who are living with mental illness. It focuses public attention on the burden mental illness places on individuals and society and the urgent need to expand mental health services globally. Established in 2014, the Pardes Prize is named in honor of Herbert Pardes, M.D., the internationally renowned psychiatrist, outspoken advocate for the mentally ill, and the award’s first recipient.
