Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF): an international organization that works to raise money and fund research into finding a cure for Type I diabetes. I serve as a Chancellor on the International Board.

I will always remember the day my daughter Danielle was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. At the time, she was just four years old.  

With our family beside us, and the strong support of business colleagues, friends, and the JDRF community we’ve had the strength and support we needed to persevere in our fight to find a cure for this difficult disease. Through the years, our battle and our efforts have intensified.

Danielle is a beautiful young woman in college now, and she’s dedicated to one day helping find a cure for diabetes. With the help of our “Danielle’s Adams Family Team” made up of family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers, we’ve raised more than $2 million to fund diabetes research! Among the big fund-raisers are JDRF’s Walk for a Cure and the JDRF Hope Gala.

Danielle’s journey has been a tough one but its’ also been empowering and extraordinary. I would like to share with you an excerpt from a Walk letter Danielle wrote about “Her Legacy” to the Adams Family Team in 2011. It truly reflects the journey…

“At four years old, I certainly didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘legacy,’ but I did know what it meant to live with type 1 diabetes. I was diagnosed on November 28, 2000, after being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance–just in time to save me from slipping into a coma. I quickly understood that staying alive meant being insulin-dependent. So, I wore an insulin pump, checked my blood sugar eight to ten times a day, woke up every two hours to ensure my blood sugar levels were stable, and survived a few seizures. This was my new “normal” and my family and I were going to make the best of it. 

NC CEO Forum

NC CEO Forum: This is a one day gathering of senior leaders in business from around the state. Speakers share insights, ideas and transformations. I serve as Co-Host for this Forum.

Communities in Schools - North Carolina

Communities in Schools: the nation’s leading community-based organization helping kids succeed in school and prepare for life. I’m a member of its Board of Directors in North Carolina and Chair of the 9/27 Back to School Bash.

Each of us has the potential to be extraordinary. Given the right environment, the right values-based culture, we all can achieve that. The path to this individual greatness must begin with our children and in our schools.

American Heart Association

As women, we tend to put others ahead of ourselves. But if we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t take care of everyone else around us. So join me and make a Go Red Commitment to take action in the fight against heart disease. Because when all of us come together, we can build a culture of health for all.

Make-a-Wish Eastern North Carolina

Make-a-Wish Foundation: a nonprofit that grants wishes to children diagnosed with life-threatening diseases. I’m a past member of the Board of Directors, Eastern North Carolina.

Helping children with life-threatening diseases realize their dreams—watching their awe and excitement—is one of the most gratifying experiences anyone can have. Having the opportunity to help create those dreams come true is so powerful in terms of energizing each and every person around them, myself included. These children grant us the ultimate gift.

Foundation of Hope

A North Carolina-based nonprofit dedicated to funding breakthroughs in the treatment of mental illness. (www.WalkforHope.com)

Thad and Alice Eure, then owners of The Angus Barn, a North Carolina restaurant and event center, launched the Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness in 1984. With their passing, the torch passed to their children–Shelley Eure Belk, Van Eure, and Chad Eure.

This incredible organization has done so much to help people and their families cope with disabilities. The Eures, along with thousands of volunteers and participants over the years since, have raised millions of dollars thanks to their annual Walk/Run for Hope, held the second Sunday in October, and other Hope events like Bike for Hope, the Evening of Hope, and more. This past year the Evening of Hope was especially inspirational with special guest and speaker Zak Williams, son of the late legendary actor Robin Williams.

David Rubinow, M.D., Chair of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, calls the Foundation of Hope “a treasure for the people of North Carolina.” (http://www.walkforhope.com/about-2/)

I couldn’t have said it better.

We See Hope

We See Hope (formerly Hope HIV): a nonprofit that supports orphans and other vulnerable children living in extreme poverty in Southern and Eastern Africa. The international organization works with local project partners to restore, protect, educate, and equip these children with sustainability.

The power of helping others, the gratification and the energy that giveback generates, is incredible. This summer I was fortunate to participate in a 10-day charitable mission to Malawi with one of Qlik’s partner’s in social responsibility, the We See Hope organization. It’s phenomenal what the group does to help children who face so many struggles simply to live day to day. These children are so poor, yet so rich in the goodness they share with others, myself included.

UNC Chapel Hill Board of Visitors

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Visitors is an active group of volunteers, assisting the Board of Trustees and Chancellor in a range of activities that help advance the University, including public relations, government relations and fund raising. But most important, Board of Visitors members serve as ambassadors, informing members of their communities about what is going on at Carolina and, in turn, keeping the University administration informed about what they are hearing about Carolina in their communities.

I served a four year term as a member from 2007 – 2011.