About

The mission of Best Buddies is to establish a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).  Best Buddies’ goals are to provide socialization, leadership development and employment opportunities for people with IDD while increasing public awareness for inclusion of people with disabilities in society.
Today, Best Buddies offers eight programs: Best Buddies Middle Schools, High Schools and Colleges, Best Buddies Citizens, e-Buddies®, Best Buddies Jobs, Best Buddies Ambassadors and Best Buddies Promoters. At its core, Best Buddies is a peer buddy program that allows students with disabilities to learn new social, academic, employment and life skills while expanding friendships and activities with their general education peers.  General education students increase their disability awareness, enhance their personal growth and develop citizenship skills.