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Mission
Achilles International’s mission is to enable people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics, with a focus on distance running. Achilles promotes personal achievement, enhanced self-esteem, improved health and fitness, and lowers barriers between disparate types of people.
Key Facts
Geographic areas served:
HQ in NYC chapters throughout the US and worldwide
Target demographics:
people with disabilities of all ages from all walks of life; combat injured veterans from OEF and OIF, as well as veterans from prior wars such as Vietnam and Korea; non combat injured veterans with disabilities
Results to date:
Achilles hosts an annual Hope & Possibility 5 Mile Race where 5,000 able bodied and disabled people participate together. 200 Achilles athletes with all kinds of disabilities compete each year in the ING NYC Marathon. Achilles also participates in the Marathon Tour, which features 14 mainstream races throughout the country.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 10,000
Indirect beneficiaries per year: 50,000
Obstacles:
We have survived the economic crisis through strict budgeting and low overhead. We continue to thrive with a focus on programming.
With 3 hours a volunteer can:
Guide a runner with a disability at workouts on Tuesday evenings (6:15 pm) and Saturday mornings (10am) in Central Park (90th Street and 5th Avenue)
What your donation will allow us to do:
Your support directly enables people with disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics.
Your donation of 3,500 enables us to:
purchase a handcrank wheelchair for a veteran with a disability
Your donation of 1,000 enables us to:
bring a veteran and his family to a marathon tour weekend, which features tune ups, dinners and social outings and a mainstream race
Your donation of 500 enables us to:
bring a veteran with a disability to the NYC Marathon where they can be part of the Achilles family, connect with vets and others facing similar challenges and have the opportunity to achieve
Board Members and Affiliation:
BENSON, JAMES CEO, Clark Benson LLC
BLOOM, ELLIOT Vice Chair, Achilles International; ESA Bloom Group LLC
BURLANT, MICHAEL Senior Director, Cushman & Wakefield
CHARLTON, RUSSELL Vice President, Internal Audit, Time Warner; Treasurer, Achilles International
COLE, KIRSTIN Correspondent, WCBS-TV
DIAMOND, ROBERT Senior Vice President, Realty Capital International, LLC
D’LOREN, ROBERT Co-Chairman, ClearMarkets
EILERS, MATTHEW Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
EINHORN, THOMAS Chairman, Orthopedic Surgery, Boston Medical Center
FASTENBERG, ALISA
FASULLO, LISA
GALE, KAREN
GOLKIN, DONNA Perry & Donna Golkin Family Foundation
HAMMERMAN, CHARLES President & CEO, The Disability Opportunity Fund
HESS, MICHAEL Giuliani Partners
KATZ, ROBERT Senior Director, Goldman Sachs
MALLE, CHLOE
MARKS, BONNIE The Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University
MEILI, TRISHA Founding Chairman, Achilles International
MOSLER, BRUCE Chairman, Achilles International; Chair, Cushman & Wakefield
OTTENBREIT, KEN Managing Principal of the NY Office, Stikeman Elliott LLP”
PATERSON, DAVID Governor, NY State
PODZIBA, KENNETH President & CEO, Bike NY
ROGERS, TED Partner, American Industrial Partners
SHARER, DONN Secretary, Achilles International
SIEGELSON, LILI
SILVERSTEIN, ROGER Senior Vice President, Silverstein Properties Inc
TANSER, TOBY CEO, Shoe4Africa
WEISS, MARK Executive Vice President & Principal, Newmark Knight Frank
WOLF, DAVID CBRE
Past and Current Funders:
Avis, U-Hail, Bank of America, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, the Woodruff Foundation,
Key Staff
Achilles was founded in 1983 by Dick Traum, the first amputee to run a marathon using a prosthetic leg. Mary Bryantis a VP of Achilles and Founder of the Achilles Freedom Team. Genna Griffith is Director of the Achilles Marathon Tour and Assistant Director of the Freedom Team.