Our second year of Beta Change saw many changes to the way we shared stories. We introduced Global Postcards and continued with our Minisodes. Check out our report to see what else we got up to.

1. 2018 Annual Report

2. 2018 at a glance...
● We continue to make inspiring additions to the Global Postcard series with
our Audio and Video postcards.
● We published 18 Beta Change Global Postcards and several articles on our
blog.
● We produced a total of 9 Beta Change Minisodes in 2018.
● We sharpened our focus on telling diverse stories to reach the global diabetes
community.

3. Our Vision
To create a world where
diabetes is not a barrier to
living a full life.
Our Mission Our Values
To create a global network
and foster collaboration
between all stakeholders
within the diabetes
community & together provide
adequate and sustainable
access to diabetes
medication, equipment,
education and support to all
people living with diabetes by
2025.
We create opportunities.
We bring people together.
We strive for equal access.
We empower people with
diabetes.
Be empowered. Be inspired. Be the change.

4. A Word from the Beta Change Team
Every person experiences the world in a different way, and each story provides a new and unique perspective
to the world we live in. As members of Beta Change, we often hear people with diabetes say that living with
this condition can be isolating and lonely - until they meet someone else living with diabetes or discover the
diabetes community online or IRL. As healthy as it is to share our experiences of what it’s like to live with
diabetes in our day-to-day lives, no one will really understand better than someone else who also lives with it.
Exchanging these stories gives hope and inspires those in a dark place not to give up. They motivate others to
fight harder for their community and remind us that life is precious. Some stories change us and stay with us
forever. These stories can also help those who don’t live with diabetes better understand what we go through
each day, and the challenges we face and the achievements that are meaningful to us.
Most importantly, these stories contribute toward a shift in the way people think and talk about diabetes, which
is important in this society where we constantly hear noise about the negativity and blame associated with
diabetes. Our stories remind others that there is a person behind the condition and that human lives are
complex and not just about diabetes management. At Beta Change, we show the world what people with
diabetes can achieve - and that none of us are doing this alone.
Adapted from the Beta Change Blog Post: The Power of Sharing Stories
Published June 8, 2019

5. Medication
Goals:
Improve access and
affordability of insulin
by collaborating with
policymakers and
industry partners.
Support innovation
and research by
collaborating with
industry and
academic partners.
Equipment
Goals:
Improve access and
affordability of
diabetes equipment
and support
innovation and
research by
collaborating with
policymakers,
industry partners and
academic partners..
Education
Goals:
Improve access to
ongoing diabetes
education &
appropriate resources
by collaborating with
academic partners
and diabetes
organisations.
Support
Goals:
Provide mentorship to
leaders who want to
make a difference
within the diabetes
community through
our mentorship
program.
Provide support for
diabetes advocates.
Four Strategic Pillars

6. 2018 Achievements
Medication
April 2018: Article
from Nete Holm, from
Denmark, about the
DrugStars program.
December 2018:
Minisode with the late
Cate Ndwiga, from
Kenya, on Universal
Health Coverage Day.
Equipment
September 2018:
Audio Global Postcard
from Florence, who
lives in Zambia, about
the without reliable
access to tools like
blood glucose meters.
Education
July 2018: Video
Global Postcard
featuring prominent
members of the
diabetes community
highlighted the
benefits of attending a
diabetes camp.
Support
August 2018:
Minisode with Nicole
Reed fon balancing
diabetes and college.
November 2018:
Minisode with Sara
Mobäck, from Sweden,
on diabetes and eating
disorders.
Here are a few instances in which we used our strategic pillars to impact the global diabetes
community in 2018.

7. Here are a few of the countries we heard from in our 2018 Beta Change international community!
2018 Global Contributions

8. Nicole Reed | Founder, NYU Chapter of College Diabetes Network
Returning Guests
Guests from over 10 countries around the world joined the Beta Change community by
sharing their unique stories in 2018.
We welcomed the following guests to our Minisode series for the first time:
Cassidy Robinson, United States
Anita Herlambang, Indonesia
Eliza Bartlett, New Zealand
Peidra James, Jamaica
Weronika Kowalska, Belgium/Poland
Sara Moback, Sweden
Fiona Scott | Beta Change, Fiona Scott Diabetes Education
And her dad, Kevin Taylor!
New Faces

9. We also welcomed a special
person, Cate Ndwiga, to our
December Beta Change
Minisode about Universal
Health Coverage Day 2018.
Katie spoke with Cate about
the challenges she faced living
in Kenya with type 1 diabetes.
Cate was a bright light and a ball of passion in her efforts to improve conditions for people
living with diabetes around the world. She was an advocate with T1International, working
with our friend Elizabeth to have an impact on the community that reached beyond Kenya.
In early 2019, Cate passed away due to complications from surgery. Her loss is felt
throughout the diabetes community. We thank Cate for sharing her light with us and hope
her story continues.

10. Wei Teng Chen
Emily Wilson
Alex Williams
Yemurai Machirori
Noor AlRamahi
Amanda Lenehan
Daniela Rojas & Paula Chinchilla
The Grumpy Pumper
Chipimo Chisanga
Peidra James
Nete Holm
Carrie Hetherington
Nicole Reed
María Inés Garriga
Written Content &
Guest Contributors
These guests contributed
written content and/or
photos that were featured
in the Beta Change
Media Room in 2018:
*Written content also includes articles and updates from the diabetes community by
Beta Change team members Fiona Scott, Ashley Ng, and Pei Yan Heng
Don Muchow
Doug Masiuk
Caitlin Willsher
Mohammad Y. Al-Bahar
Scott Jozefowski
Tracey Herbert
Elizabeth Rowley

11. 9 Newsletter Updates
● Newsletter reach:
119 subscribers 18%
48% av. open rate 16%
9 Minisodes
● Average reach: 746 per Minisode 21%
● Largest Minisode Facebook reach (2,457): Our Minisode featuring guest Sara
Mobäck (@Diabeteskvinnan on Instagram) about diabetes and developing
healthy relationships with food had our highest reach.
Making Connections

12. Twitter Goal Followers: 250 | Followers in 2018: 25 46%
Twitter Impressions: Average of 6,666 per month 56%
Social Media Notables
Largest Facebook post reach:
Beta Change Minisode featuring Sara Mobäck (Diabeteskvinnan) on
diabetes and healthy relationships with food (2,457 people reached)
Facebook Goal Likes: 500 | Likes in 2018: 454 (116 new)
YouTube Views: Average of 12 per video
Channel subscribers: 8 in 2018

13. Media Appearances
A Beta Change Video Global
Postcard about the value of
diabetes camps was featured on
the DiabetesCamps website in
August 2018 under the “Diabetes
Camp to Me” tab on the main
page.
Thanks to Terry Ackley for
promoting our Postcard, which
featured Kerri Sparling, Kyle
Jacques Rose, Paul Madden,
Renza Scibilia, Jeff Hitchcock,
Franco Giraudo, and Jen Hanson.

14. Beta Change
co-founder and
Deakin
University
Alumni member
Ashley Ng was
profiled and
featured for
World Diabetes
Day in 2018 on
the university’s
website.
Ashley shared
how she uses
her education at
Deakin to give
back to the
diabetes
community.

15. 1 Beta Change
relies on the
goodwill of
volunteers to
keep going.
Juggling full
time work and
running a small
organisation is
not easy!
In September
2018, Ashley
wrote a guest
blog post for
The Happy
Academic on
balancing life in
academia with
running Beta
Change while
managing her
health.
2 Wei Teng Chen, author of
Murphy, See How You Shine!,
mentioned her involvement with
Beta Change in an interview with
Sassy Mama. We’re excited to
grow the Beta Change community
with contributors like Wei Teng!

16. Coming in 2019
We’re looking out for a website content manager to help streamline access to all of our
media. If this is you, feel free to reach out to the team: betachangenetwork@gmail.com
Our written content will focus on sharing stories from the community through our Global
Postcards (in text, audio, and video) in multiple languages to make our content more globally
accessible. We will shift away from publishing articles in lieu of sharing thoughts from the
Beta Change team on our blog.
We’re trialing the use of LinkedIn as platform to connect, support and empower diabetes
advocates around the world. Find us on Beta Change - Diabetes Advocate Network and let
us know what you think!
We are continuing to develop a new podcast series.
2019 could be the year we take the plunge to formally register as an organisation - we would
love your thoughts on this, so feel free to reach out to us with your ideas or expertise.