The Possibilities
The Possibilities
Joshua Felder
Best Buddies Global Ambassador
Joshua Felder was born in Tampa, FL. In 2017, he completed a 2-year Career Exploration Program at the University of South Florida. He is also a Global Ambassador and International Board of Directors member for Best Buddies International.
During his time with Best Buddies International, Joshua has personally given endorsement speeches at Best Buddies events throughout the United States, co-hosted Friendship Walks, and danced on stage with celebrities – all while furthering the mission of inclusion. In 2020, Joshua received the Best Buddies Spirit of Courage Award. He was also awarded the inaugural Excellence in Leadership Award at the 5th Annual Best Buddies’ Mother’s Day Brunch.
Joshua is also the first person with a disability to be a dancer in the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show with The Weeknd and the first to be featured in a Showtime Original with The Weeknd, which outlined the making of the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show. Joshua’s performance in the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show resulted in him receiving commendations from the City of Tampa Mayor and City Council. Additionally, Joshua was featured on Bay News 9 and CBS This Morning with Gayle King.
In 2023, he was cast in the Woody Harrelson movie Champions and promoted it on shows like The Drew Barrymore Show and the Today Show. Most recently, in 2024, he had the honor of performing the “Puck Drop” at the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Neurodiversity Night.
Joshua’s brand, “Inclusion is the new Swag,” shows his belief that there are no limits to what people with IDD can achieve.
I’m Joshua Felder and I am showing the world that my Disability is actually my ‘Superpower’.”
– Joshua Felder
A Caregiver’s Perspective
A Parent’s Story
Michelle Aventajado
Best Buddies Staff Member
No one wants to feel alone. Even if I understood what Down Syndrome was because I was a teacher and taught in inclusive classrooms, when the neonatologist gave me a birth diagnosis of Trisomy 21, I felt the full gamut of emotions that comes along with the understanding that my parenthood journey was forever going to be different. My husband Nino and I looked to each other for comfort, but we also knew we had no idea how to move forward except through our faith. We prayed for Evangelina’s (Gelli) successful surgery that she would have to undergo within hours of her birth, for strength, and for a community that would welcome us and guide us on this new path.
Finding other parents of kids who had Down syndrome suddenly put things into perspective for us.
We looked to parents with older kids to see how their kids were growing, what we could expect as new parents ourselves, and, most of all, for encouragement.
We wanted the reassurance of someone who had ‘been there, done that,’ even if our experiences weren’t exactly the same, and we wanted to relate to other parents who understood where we were, without much explanation or need for words.
Gelli gave us membership to a special kind of club. She opened up our world to people whom we never would have met, and because of her, we found parents of kids just like her, which was comforting, reassuring, and safe.
Gelli’s arrival has brought many positive adventures into our lives. I now lead Best Buddies Philippines and am happy to be part of an organization that continues to support and empower the IDD community throughout different life stages.
