Beyond Type 1’s 2019 Top Ten
Can you believe 2020 is here? As the decade comes to a close, we’re counting down on our top 10 moments from the past year at Beyond Type 1. It was a big year for the type 1 (and type 2!) diabetes communities, filled with fun programs, campaigns to raise awareness, peer support and spirited debate. In the final days of 2019, join us by taking some time to pause, reflect and celebrate.
What were your top 10 moments of 2019? Here’s our list. To 2020 and beyond!
In 2019, Beyond Type 1 and Type One Run organized our first ever 5K run in Los Angeles, where almost 200 community members joined us for a morning of exercise and support for the type 1 community! Community members impacted by diabetes are meeting up all the time, all over the world, through the Type One Run network. Get connected and stay tuned for our next big event!
We won a Webby this year. Wow. Previously Healthy, a multimedia long-form piece produced in 2018 to raise awareness for the importance of a safe, early diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, was nominated for Best Writing—Editorial. Thanks to the support of the amazing diabetes community, “Previously Healthy” took the People’s Voice Award for the category, putting type 1 diabetes and this important story in the spotlight.
Beyond Type 1 partnered with Connected in Motion to host four Slipstream weekends across North America for adults living with type 1 diabetes! During these weekend-long events, we met hundreds of people with type 1, swapped stories, gained new insights and perspectives and had an amazing time hanging out with other people who get it. We’re excited to partner again in 2020, check out event dates here!
Have you checked out our new #KnowledgeDrop Series? This November, we shared candid conversations with experts about the most important topics in type 1 diabetes right now. The conversations cover mental health, diabetes technology, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in management and more. We had a great time getting to learn from some of the top experts in diabetes care, and hope you did, too!
2019 was our first year running the Diabetes Scholars program—Beyond Type 1 and our generous partners awarded over 50 scholarships to students living with type 1 diabetes through Diabetes Scholars. The program awards scholarships to students entering their first year of college or university in the United States, and we hope to expand to serve even more students in the future!
In our Focus on Access Series, we tried to answer some big questions: How did insulin pricing get so out of control in the United States? And how do we move forward? To fully understand the scope of the insulin access crisis in the U.S., Beyond Type 1’s editorial team sought out a range of perspectives—a patient with type 1 diabetes, an endocrinologist working with underserved communities, leaders of advocacy movements, an insulin manufacturer and a United States Senator. Sharing a varied range of perspectives gives us an opportunity to look carefully at where there is agreement and disagreement, to examine why, and to identify avenues for change. We asked each contributor to address: What can we do NOW to fix this? And what are you most hopeful about for the future?
This Fall, we announced the creation of the JDRF—Beyond Type 1 Alliance. This innovative partnership, built alongside JDRF, is designed to amplify each of our organization’s strengths, and to provide greater support for those impacted by type 1 diabetes. The JDRF—Beyond Type 1 Alliance combines the power of JDRF, the leading global organization funding T1D research, and Beyond Type 1, the organization with the largest online community of any diabetes nonprofit. 
In November, The Beyond Type Run team raced through the five boroughs of New York City to inspire those impacted by type 1 diabetes around the globe. Beyond Type Run 2019 was made up of 30 runners with a combined 385 years of experience living with type 1 diabetes.
Beyond Type 2 launched in early 2019! The website and social platforms are built to unite, inspire and serve those impacted by Type 2 diabetes. With stories and resources available in both English and Spanish, Beyond Type 2 serves a growing community of people living with and caring for those with type 2 diabetes.
In 2019, Beyond Type 1 continued the work we’ve been passionate about since day 1—raising as much awareness for this chronic, autoimmune disease as possible and serving our amazing community. Thank you for helping us make an invisible disease visible and making life with diabetes a little bit easier. You are not alone!
Happy New Year from all of us at Beyond Type 1! We can’t wait to see what we can build together in 2020 and beyond. If you’re looking to get more involved with the type 1 or type 2 diabetes community and programs, learn more here.
