Summit 2022 - T1International

Saturday, September 24th

Our annual event is an opportunity for advocates from around the world to learn from each other, build community, and take action in the fight for #insulin4all. The summit is open to the public and features the incredible advocacy work of T1Interational and our wider community. The 2022 summit theme was Health is Wealth: Calling Big Pharma to put health over corporate profits.

Watch the Sessions

2022 Program Session List

11 am ET: Opening and Welcome

11:10 am ET: Advocacy Stories
An empowering session that highlights four incredible activists and their personal journeys to advocacy.

Speakers: Arina Parkhomova, Sa'ra Skipper, Yaa Bimpeh, Kuda Chihata
Moderated by Allison Hardt, T1International Advocacy Manager

12 pm ET: Keynote Conversation with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
In this session, Founder & Director of T1International, Elizabeth Pfiester, will talk with physician, epidemiologist, educator, author, speaker, and podcast host Abdul El-Sayed. The conversation will include discussion about insulin pricing, broken healthcare systems, Big Pharma's influence, and what we as advocates can do about it.

12:20 pm ET: Ethical Fundraising
Hear from the T1International team about our approach to fundraising, which demonstrates our values and patient-led work. Learn from supporters why it is so important to support the pharma-free work of the organisation.

12:25 pm ET: Global Advocacy Panel
Advocates from around the world share updates on the insulin crisis in their countries, and how they are advocating to overcome the challenges faced with access and affordability where they live.

Speakers: Kat Nagel, Laura Munyoro Kangulu, Christina Barklund, Mohammed Seyam
Moderated by Katie Souris, T1International Global Advocacy Consultant

1:40 pm ET: Change Through Grassroots Organizations in Latin America
Join advocates from across Latin America as they dig into the importance of grassroots organizing, drawing on their personal experiences in their communities. This session will be presented in Spanish with English subtitles, with a live Q&A in English following the conversation.

Speakers: Daniela Rojas, Marian Garcia de Alba, Laura Ortiz Pinell
Moderated by Pilar Gomez, T1International Global Advocacy Partner Rep

2:30 pm ET: Keynote with Activist Dan Glass

2:35 pm ET: Take Action with T1International
T1International and #insulin4all advocates have a history of taking direct action. Learn about our powerful actions from the past and what we're planning for October 2022.

3:00 pm ET: Communities of Color Panel: Taking Care
This live panel discussion explores caregiving in communities of color. It brings together diverse perspectives from across the globe to explore how multiple identities can intersect and influence the reality of giving care in the diabetes community, and the value (and challenge) of caring for yourself while you care for others.

Speakers: Tracy Ramey, Tonya Hegamin, Mridula Kapil Bhargava
Moderated by Chelcie Rice, Communities of Color Working Group Co-Lead

3:45 pm ET: Closing Message from Jonathan Van Ness

More About Our Speakers

Jonathan Van Ness

Jonathan Van Ness is an Emmy-nominated television personality, 2x New York Times best-selling author, podcaster, and hairstylist to the stars. They star on Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning reboot series “Queer Eye,” and they are the host and executive producer of the Netflix series “Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness,” based on Jonathan’s popular podcast of the same name. In 2020, Jonathan launched JVN, a clean and sustainable haircare line that sees all beauty, serves all beauty, and honors the uniqueness in each of us.

More about JVN

Dan Glass

Dan Glass is an Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) healthcare and human rights activist, performer, presenter and writer. Dan has been recognised as 'Activist of the Year' with the 'Sexual Freedom Awards' and was announced a 'BBC Greater Londoner' for founding Queer Tours of London. His book United Queerdom: From the Legends of the Gay Liberation Front to the Queers of Tomorrow was recognised as Observer book of the week June. Dan recently founded self-defence empowerment programme Bender Defenders and Queer Night Pride to confront rising hate crime.

More about Dan

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is a physician, epidemiologist, educator, and public communicator. He is a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, formerly the health director for the city of Detroit, and candidate for governor of Michigan in 2018. He is a proud member of the AFT, SEIU, AAUP, and National Writers Union.

Arina Parkhomova

Arina Parkhomova joined T1International because she felt the urge to share her experience and knowledge with fellow diabetics. The work of the whole T1International team, as well as music and art, inspire her to keep going and bring more endorphins into the diabetes community.

Kuda Chihata

Kudakwashe Chihata is an admitted Attorney at Law, Conveyancer and Notary Public, a holder of an LLB from the Great Zimbabwe University, and LLM (Masters in Law) candidate with the University of Botswana. He has great passion for medical, health, and human rights law, which led him to join the T1International #insulin4all Zimbabwe Chapter. He seeks to impact the world by driving progressive health care policy and law reform.

Sa'Ra Skipper

Sa’Ra is a national type 1 diabetes patient advocate who has lived with type 1 diabetes since the age of 5. After rationing and sharing insulin with her sister who also lives with T1D, Sa’Ra became vocal about the need for the affordability of insulin. Since becoming an advocate, she has testified in front of the United States Committee on Oversight and Reform and, in 2021, met with the President of the United States, Joe Biden.

Learn More

Yaa Bimpeh

Yaa Bimpeh Amoah is from Ghana, West Africa and has been living with type 1 diabetes for 20 years. She is a global partner representative for diabetes youth care (DYC), a peer support group for young Ghanaians living with type1 diabetes, and a Pamojan Advocate. She is a passionate diabetes advocate, creating awareness in every way she sees possible.

Laura Munyoro

Laura Munyoro Kangulu (BPharm, PgDip Diabetes) is a Managing Pharmacist and a T1International Global Chapter Representative for Zimbabwe #insulin4all. She is part of healthcare teams that focus on education for people with diabetes, work she was inspired to do through caring for her mother with diabetes. She is passionate about advocating for long-term solutions that can reduce the disease burden on the patients and their household.

Mohammed Seyam

Mohammed Seyam is a 23-Year-old doctor who's been living with type 1 diabetes for the past 11 years. He is a passionate diabetes and NCDs advocate, a certified diabetes educator, the MENA Chapter Representative at T1International, and a Young Leader in diabetes representing Palestine in the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

Kat Nagel

Dr. Kathryn Nagel was born in the USA and has lived with type 1 diabetes for the past 30 years. She works as a physician in Boston, Massachusetts in both pediatric and adult endocrinology. She has been a member of T1International since 2019, initially serving as the policy lead in the Connecticut State Chapter and now serving on the USA Federal Working Group.

Christina Barklund

Christina is a general practice doctor based in Stockholm who has had T1D since 1996. She came to advocacy a few years ago, after a trip to visit her daughter studying medicine in Cameroon. She met a young man with type 1 who couldn’t afford to live. Christina hopes to educate others about the challenges that people with diabetes face in places where the healthcare system is not as comprehensive as it is in her own country.

Pilar Gómez

Pilar is the Founder and Director of DiabetesLATAM, and the granddaughter, daughter, niece, cousin, sister and mother of people with type 1 diabetes. Using valuable teachings from her experience with healthcare in the UK, she promotes education and support programs for children and families with type 1 in Latin America, taught in Spanish. She studied Psychology and holds a masters degree in Instructional Systems Design. She is a certified diabetes educator.

Daniela Rojas Jiménez

Daniela Rojas is a psychologist who works with people living with diabetes, and has been a type
1 diabetes patient for 30 years. She is a diabetes educator and an advocate for the type 1 community in Costa Rica and Latin America. She is also a board member of Asociación Día Vida in CR, a diabetes camp organizer and a member of the WHO TAG-D.

Marian García de Alba

Marian Garcia de Alba has lived with type 1 diabetes since April 2006, and is eager to make a difference for people in México. She believes that access to insulin is a human right. She is an ESL & Preschool Teacher with diplomas in Child Development and Neurodevelopment, and Health Promotion For People With t1d. She is currently studying for a Psychology Degree.

Laura Ortiz Pinell

Laura Ortiz lives in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. She has type 1 diabetes, and uses an insulin pump and a CGM. She is an architect and interior designer, and has volunteered in camps focused on diabetes education in Bolivia since 2009, as well as in collaboration with the youth camp in Chile in 2017. She is a Global Advocate for Bolivia with T1International.

Tonya Hegamin

Tonya C. Hegamin is a person with type 1 diabetes with a medical alert service dog, Rambo. Her experience as a patient advocate and as a community educator stems from her personal journey as a bisexual and chronically ill woman of color. She has won awards, reviews and recognition from The New York Public Library, Fortune Magazine, The Washington Post, and more. Tonya is a tenured Associate Professor at CUNY’s Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY.

Mridula Kapil

Mridula is a t1d advocate, Global Advocacy Partner with T1International and a public health professional currently working with multiple organizations as a consultant. She recently received the WomenLift Health Fellowship that focuses upon "Diabetes Education to protect tomorrow" and pre-incubating her idea at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore, focusing upon curbing infodemics and empowering patient voices.

Tracy, Chapter Leader

Tracy Ramey's daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2018. Since that day she has been aware of the disparities in healthcare and lack of knowledge surrounding type 1 diabetes. She has been the Communities of Color Outreach Lead for the Ohio #insulin4all since the summer of 2020 and is delighted to be stepping into the role of Ohio Chapter Leader!

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Yemurai Machirori

Yemurai is a hotelier by profession but her passion lies in helping people living with diabetes, especially children living with type 1 diabetes. She believes that no child should ever give up their dreams because their parents cannot afford the insulin that they need to survive. Yemurai has been living with diabetes for 17 years.

AJ Sinha

Dr. Arjun Sinha (AJ) is an academic nephrologist and dialysis unit medical director in Indianapolis, Indiana. He’s a lifelong Hoosier and actively organizes for social justice with numerous local groups including Circle City Mutual Aid and Medicare for All Indiana.

Craig Miller

Craig Miller has been T1D since 1988. Discovering the T1D community about 4 years ago was incredible after living so many years believing he had to do it all on his own. He has since done several TV and print interviews, testified for Indiana state senate committee hearings, gotten involved in mutual aid and participated in the Indiana and Ohio #insulin4all Chapters.

Chelcie Rice

Chelcie Rice is a stand up comedian born and raised in Northeast Georgia. He currently resides in Florida and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 25. He also serves as the Communities of Color Working Group Co-Lead for T1International.

More About Health is Wealth
The pharmaceutical industry claims that the health of people is their top priority while they continue to bring in billions in profit, showing their true priority. Big Pharma has continued to raise the price of insulin at the expense of countless people’s health. For too many, health is unattainable because of broken systems driven by greed.

Being healthy doesn’t look one way and health isn’t attainable in the same ways for all bodies. As a community facing multiple health challenges, we hope this summit can both highlight pharma’s false narratives about health and support our advocates to care for themselves while they fight for change.

Check out Videos from 2021