Over the next four years, the two organisations will join forces to focus on Special Olympics’ Global Youth Leadership work, which brings together youth leaders with and without intellectual disabilities at nearly 200 global, regional, national and local summits.

At the summits the youth leaders can discuss and implement inclusion-based projects in their own communities.

The partnership with the Special Olympics is part of Kantar’s just-launched corporate social responsibility programme, Extraordinary People.

Lynnette Cooke, chair Extraordinary People programme, said: “We are very proud to be global partners of Special Olympics, helping to advance their mission to end the ongoing exclusion, isolation, discrimination, and health injustice for people with intellectual disabilities.”

As part of the programme, all Kantar employees are given paid days off to volunteer for non-profit organisations that they feel passionately about.

Eric Salama, CEO Kantar, added: “The world is hugely varied, and that’s what makes it extraordinary. We want to ensure we’re helping everyone in society to flourish, by building an inclusive and diverse society, creating positive impact in the communities we live and work in and encouraging our employees to tap into opportunities to support local causes and global programmes.”