Best Buddies Arizona State Director - Timothy Boeln
Timothy Bolen, Best Buddies Arizona State Director
Background
Timothy Bolen joined the Best Buddies team as Development Director – Arizona in March 2011. Tim was promoted to State Director July 12th of 2011. Tim partnered with Best Buddies International corporate sponsor “Audi” to host 3 golf events in late spring. In June, Tim organized a charity night with the professional baseball team the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The event reached 28,000 spectators and educated them on the importance of friendship and inclusion with those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition, Tim coordinated the first Cocktails and Cupcakes Business Social Hour held in June, 2011.
Prior to his role in Best Buddies Arizona, Tim’s career had been focused primarily on event promoting, coaching, and corporate sales. Tim promoted various special events to raise funds solely for non-profits. Tim promoted walking and running events, triathlons, duathlons, cycling events, multi-day stage race cycling events, and a 12 hour endurance mountain bike event.
2001 Tim raised funds by cycling 3000 miles solo from San Diego to Washington DC in 15 days all to honor his niece Sydney Hudson who had disabilities. “It was the most amazing athletic challenge I have ever completed”. Tim partnered with Gil Tyree the sports anchor from Channel 3 in Phoenix.
From 1998-2005 Tim worked as a territory sales representative under Berkshire Hathaway’s Shaw Industries. Tim exceeded his annual sales of 1.2 million per year and landed the first one million dollar project. From 2005-2009 Tim took a more active role in both operations and management.
Tim competed as a professional triathlete, semi-professional cyclist, and a collegiate runner and he continues to compete in many events throughout the year.
Why did you choose Best Buddies for employment?
The mission of Best Buddies International is simply amazing, and I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful organization. Having two family members with special needs and specific to Intellectual and developmental disabilities, Best Buddies was the perfect fit.
Becoming the State Director for Best Buddies Arizona is my proudest career accomplishment. I look forward to watching Best Buddies Arizona influence and impact the general population so that we can make a true difference in the lives of thousands of adults and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
What does friendship mean to you?
A friend is someone without judgment and who is willing to stand up for what is right. For me, it is accepting each other for our faults and for our strengths and learning from one another as we do so. It is that bond that connects us differently than any other relationships we may have. It is learning about each other and always supporting one other.
What are your goals for your state this year?
Despite a challenging economic climate, 2010 was a successful year for Best Buddies Arizona. We maintained the expansion of our High School program and we are proud to report we now operate programs on eight middle school and 36 high school and 2 college campuses in the state. We are privileged to serve more than 2,000 residents through Best Buddies, impacting the lives of more than 100,000 individuals in the state by involving families, friends, teachers and peers through programs and special events and media exposure.
In light of these program successes, we are very aware of the extreme challenges facing state budgets and ultimately funding for programs for people with disabilities. However, our staff and Advisory Board remain committed to our mission and will work diligently to maintain current levels of service in the state.
Goals:
Currently serving over 2000 children and adults through five programs, BBAZ has created a strategic expansion plan, the primary objective of which is to increase service capacity with jobs and high schools, and awareness.
The key focus of this plan is expansion of programming in the City of Phoenix and suburban cities. Goals for 2011-2012:
Refine and expand slowly in Arizona’s public high schools in all directions of Maricopa county, ensuring extension of a proven program for both youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Expand Best Buddies Colleges through strategic partnership development with service clubs and faculty at Arizona colleges and universities.
Increase recruitment of corporate involvement for Best Buddies participants and implementing job opportunities.
Establish a marketing campaign. Corporate, foundation and individual contributions that provide the base upon which all five programs succeed.
