She has been a tireless leader for families struggling with diabetes by ensuring that families are connected-not just referred to others who need personal connection and support. Specifically, as a nurse and then as an educator at UPMC CHP, she has donated countless hours to the wraparound program as a board member but more specifically she has made sure that the ideas which are generated actually make it to real families. She has gone out of her way not only to ensure that families are made aware of free classes with a chef, educator, and nutritionist with deliveries of groceries, through a partnership with Phipps Conservatory and CHP, but she has even delivered some of the groceries to kids directly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. But that is not all.

She volunteered her time to come out to Monroeville on weekends, again without pay, to interview parents and young adults who wanted to serve as peer support for the wraparound program. Her insights into personalities helped us to hire the correct people for these very, very special positions. She led an effort on the Advisory Program to create a guide for parents on how to better speak with their kids about T1D (especially teens) which has been incredibly well received by hurting families. Not only does she help design these guides, in her free time, and in leading these discussions with other young adults with T1D, but she ensures that in a busy clinic, they get into the hands of those who can benefit. The same can be said of a very useful guide for parents and families that she led within her role on the advisory board, of how to best navigate and use the online community. This is not a surprise, because she herself has been in podcasts aimed at educating others about her own life experience of T1D.

To her, this is not a job, this is a life purpose, to go out of her way to ensure that patients and families are able to live their best lives outside of the clinic and that life with T1D goes way beyond A1C and includes a lot more, particularly around family and friend dynamics. As a natural leader, she has a magnetic personality that motivates others and she has been a cherished vocal part of the Diabetes Advisory Board at CHP.

She is my go-to when I learn, as a physician of opportunities for families to meet others, learn in ways that will truly revolutionize their lives, and need advice about what is the best way to support families. I cannot say enough about the gem that she is for so many families. Her thriving with T1D herself is inspirational to others, but the way she shares her many gifts is what makes her extraordinary!