{"id":43894,"date":"2016-01-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/beyond-type-1-beyond-compare\/"},"modified":"2016-09-13T08:58:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T12:58:55","slug":"beyond-type-1-beyond-compare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Type 1: Beyond Compare"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When her 7-year-old daughter Mary was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1998, event designer and lifestyle expert Sarah Lucas dove headfirst into a new world of raising diabetes awareness and fundraising for a cure, leveraging her wide network of friends and colleagues to make an impact in diabetes. In her time spent fundraising for JDRF, Lucas raised a whopping 9 million dollars for the organization through efforts like her and husband Don\u2019s famous Bay Area Spring Fling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But after 13 years as a powerhouse diabetes fundraiser and as her daughter Mary flourished into adulthood, Lucas felt as though something was missing. Throughout those years, she had urged the big organizations to consider shifting their focus to include fostering community. She yearned for a sense of connection for people with diabetes.<\/p>\n

\"Beyond<\/a>
Beyond Type 1 Founders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across the country, celebrity chef Sam Talbot<\/a>, diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 12, had been experiencing that same sense of ennui around his own work in diabetes, lamenting that many charity events \u2013 while meaningful work \u2013 had become formulaic, repetitive, \u201clike groundhog day,\u201d described Lucas.<\/p>\n

Back in Silicon Valley and not far from Lucas\u2019s home base, Juliet de Baubigny<\/a>, a superstar venture capitalist who had sat on the board of Project (RED)<\/a> with the likes of Bono, was navigating the type 1 diagnosis of her young son Nicolas. De Baubigny was shocked that, in today\u2019s world, so few resources existed to help her navigate this new normal. Diabetes was suffering from a lack of public support and a lot of misconceptions\u2026and so were those affected by it. She had been a part of helping to change the image of AIDS from a lifestyle disease fraught with stigma to a condition worthy of public empathy and action through her work with the (RED) campaign.<\/p>\n

When these three people \u2013 a seasoned diabetes philanthropist with an eye for stunning visuals and bold campaigns, a charismatic celebrity chef, and a philanthropist and activist mom of a young child with diabetes \u2013 came together, magic was bound to happen. And they put that magic in front of Nick Jonas, the 23 year old rockstar diagnosed in childhood with type 1 diabetes with a huge fan base, undeniable popular appeal, and already a diabetes advocate in his own right. When they approached Jonas about the idea to start Beyond Type 1<\/a>, he was instantly hooked on their look and tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t feel like anything I\u2019ve seen before,\u201d he told them. \u201cWe were really a fit with Nick,\u201d explains Lucas.<\/p>\n

Beyond Type 1\u2019s visual branding is not just a fit with Nick<\/em>; they\u2019re a fit with Now.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you hit their website<\/a> or engage with them in social media, you feel as though you\u2019re engaging with a lifestyle brand and not a pharma site. There is nothing clinical in their sexy simplicity or their diamond teardrop #thedropspotted<\/a> swag<\/a>. The white and rhinestone on black is bold, fresh, and the content they\u2019re creating is rich.<\/p>\n

In seven months\u2019 time, Beyond Type 1 has burst onto the scene, amassing nearly 40,000 Facebook followers and a large presence on Instagram (at over 12,000 followers). They are building an engaged and passionate community on the various platforms where they live in social media.<\/p>\n

Crediting their multi-perspective approach with the ability to develop diverse content, it\u2019s critical to Beyond Type 1 that they remain \u201cauthentic\u201d \u2013 which Lucas describes as \u201cNick\u2019s big word.\u201d Instagram, in particular, allows them a platform that is \u201ccool and edgy, where people can say what they want.\u201d It has been important to them that the voices on their Instagram page be real stories from real people \u201cliving beyond\u201d their diagnosis with type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Both Lucas and Jonas dreamed of a new kind of community \u2013 one that leverages the power, reach, and talent of their expansive networks, one that offers everyone a visual voice, and one that gives back to the community in ways big and small \u2013 from their videos like Type1Day1<\/a> and their large grant awards to other nonprofits to the fact that their beautiful visuals<\/a> are shared freely in social media and available in hard copy at no cost to the requester. A young friend of mine named Carson Wedding, age 12 going on 13, eagerly took Beyond Type 1 fliers to her North Texas middle school during Diabetes Awareness Month because they looked \u201cprofessional and modern, not stuffy like lots of materials out there.”<\/p>\n

Publishing new content everyday now, the organization did not expect to become a \u201ccontent producer,\u201d but because of the feedback they receive from people hungry for the sleek, beautiful images and empowering messages, they engaged a content specialist as part of their team. What is on the site now edges toward the lean side, but is of exceptional quality already, especially their videos (love this one!<\/a>) and photos, which, with very few exceptions, feature people living with type 1 diabetes and not stock imagery.<\/p>\n

Lucas doesn\u2019t see Beyond Type 1 as a traditional diabetes nonprofit, but more like a seed-funded tech startup, as they have the luxury of having been completely self-funded. She says they are \u201ctaking the lessons from Silicon Valley and applying them to a nonprofit.\u201d Lucas described how they have been incredibly fortunate to have launched in 2015 already understanding how to leverage the forces of social media and technology. Their campaign launched last November to raise 1 million dollars for diabetes charities is still<\/em> bringing in donations and they were able to fully fund all seven of their grant awardees<\/a>, with gifts from $5,000-$150,000 awarded to organizations that educate, advocate, or research for a cure \u2013 groups like Marjorie\u2019s Fund, Tidepool, the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, and the Nightscout Foundation.<\/p>\n

I asked Lucas whether she anticipates there being a turning point at which time it becomes necessary to seek outside capital for the organization\u2019s overhead needs and she said that, if that were to be the case, it wouldn\u2019t be from the usual pharma sponsors. In keeping with their lifestyle brand approach, Beyond Type 1 will forever retain its non-clinical feel, she explained, and in that event would search for sponsorship from other sought-after lifestyle brands. \u201cPeople don\u2019t want to come onto our site and be reminded of pharma,\u201d she said. Unlike other diabetes nonprofits, she knows she has leverage in heavy hitters like Jonas, Talbot, and other celebrities who have lent their voices to Beyond Type 1 like Victor Garber, Kendall Simmons, Sierra Sandison, and Nat Strand. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to waste what we\u2019ve been given,\u201d promised Lucas.<\/p>\n

Beyond Type 1 has big plans for growth and development in the coming years, with hints that they may even extend their diabetes focus \u201cbeyond\u201d just type 1. Currently hiring to expand their team, they are seeking out the highest skillset of people who are interested and passionate in the kind of work that they are doing.<\/p>\n

As the commanding voice of actor Victor Garber (also type 1) declares in one of their videos, Beyond Type 1 is a \u201cnew brand of philanthropy\u201d that will \u201cbridge the gap from diagnosis to cure, allowing people to live well today.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t wait to see what they do next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucas doesn\u2019t see Beyond Type 1 as a traditional diabetes nonprofit, but more like a seed-funded tech startup, as they have the luxury of having been completely self-funded. She says they are \u201ctaking the lessons from Silicon Valley and applying them to a nonprofit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":43895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1429],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeyond Type 1: Beyond Compare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lucas doesn\u2019t see Beyond Type 1 as a traditional diabetes nonprofit, but more like a seed-funded tech startup, as they have the luxury of having been completely self-funded. She says they are \u201ctaking the lessons from Silicon Valley and applying them to a nonprofit.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melissa Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894\",\"name\":\"Beyond Type 1: Beyond Compare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/beyondtype1logo.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-27T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-13T12:58:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/62c0a4a536510e9d01359ff78b0d6c9b\"},\"description\":\"Lucas doesn\u2019t see Beyond Type 1 as a traditional diabetes nonprofit, but more like a seed-funded tech startup, as they have the luxury of having been completely self-funded. She says they are \u201ctaking the lessons from Silicon Valley and applying them to a nonprofit.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/beyondtype1logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/beyondtype1logo.png\",\"width\":940,\"height\":599,\"caption\":\"Beyond Type 1 Founders\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Beyond Type 1: Beyond Compare\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/62c0a4a536510e9d01359ff78b0d6c9b\",\"name\":\"Melissa Lee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1b69d7c961cd1ee5f94c419df7a5a2c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1b69d7c961cd1ee5f94c419df7a5a2c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melissa Lee\"},\"description\":\"+Melissa Lee was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 10 in 1990. Having spent her first 18 years post-diagnosis feeling very alone with the disease and hoping to achieve the control required for a healthy pregnancy with diabetes, Melissa discovered the diabetes online community in 2008 and found her advocacy voice, as well as the glucose control she needed to birth two healthy children. link\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.sweetlyvoiced.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=21\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Beyond Type 1: Beyond Compare","description":"Lucas doesn\u2019t see Beyond Type 1 as a traditional diabetes nonprofit, but more like a seed-funded tech startup, as they have the luxury of having been completely self-funded. She says they are \u201ctaking the lessons from Silicon Valley and applying them to a nonprofit.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melissa Lee","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894","name":"Beyond Type 1: Beyond Compare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/beyondtype1logo.png","datePublished":"2016-01-27T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-13T12:58:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/62c0a4a536510e9d01359ff78b0d6c9b"},"description":"Lucas doesn\u2019t see Beyond Type 1 as a traditional diabetes nonprofit, but more like a seed-funded tech startup, as they have the luxury of having been completely self-funded. She says they are \u201ctaking the lessons from Silicon Valley and applying them to a nonprofit.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/beyondtype1logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/beyondtype1logo.png","width":940,"height":599,"caption":"Beyond Type 1 Founders"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43894#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Beyond Type 1: Beyond Compare"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/62c0a4a536510e9d01359ff78b0d6c9b","name":"Melissa Lee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1b69d7c961cd1ee5f94c419df7a5a2c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1b69d7c961cd1ee5f94c419df7a5a2c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melissa Lee"},"description":"+Melissa Lee was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 10 in 1990. Having spent her first 18 years post-diagnosis feeling very alone with the disease and hoping to achieve the control required for a healthy pregnancy with diabetes, Melissa discovered the diabetes online community in 2008 and found her advocacy voice, as well as the glucose control she needed to birth two healthy children. link","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.sweetlyvoiced.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=21"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43894"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}