By: Rebekah Schilperoort

A few years ago, it was difficult for Bill Herman to imagine taking on a volunteer role. But everything changed during a 2015 work trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, for the Special Olympics African Regional Athlete Congress, as part of the multi-year partnership between Special Olympics International and Microsoft.

Bill was there to film an ad highlighting how Microsoft's Cloud technology empowers Special Olympics to manage data for their 4.9 million athletes. He attended the event's opening ceremony and exhibition games.

"It was incredibly moving – what really hit me was how much of an impact it had on me," Bill said.