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Posted on June 19, 2012 by Carmen

• board, diabetes advocates, directors, press, tudiabetes

Donna Hill, lawyer and diabetes advocate elected Foundation Chair

With diabetes incidence at a global all-time high, the Diabetes Hands Foundation today announced the election of Donna Hill, as Chair of the Board. Along with Ms. Hill, diabetes advocate, Melissa Lee, was elected Secretary of the Foundation Board of Directors at the Board meeting in Philadelphia last week.

Founded in 2008, the Diabetes Hands Foundation connects, engages, and empowers people touched by diabetes, with a yearly reach nearing 1 million people.

Ms. Hill, is Vice President, Legal at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. She has been actively involved with the TuDiabetes.org community run by the Diabetes Hands Foundation since 2010, and was diagnosed with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA) in 2008. She said: “The Foundation has made a difference in my life and the lives of tens of thousands of people touched by diabetes around the world. I am honored to have been elected Chair, and I look forward to working with the Board, committees, and the staff to serve the growing number of people touched by diabetes.”

Ms. Lee was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1990 at the age of 10. Now a wife and mother of two young children, she is a professional singer and private voice instructor, and has served as the lead administrator for TuDiabetes.org since 2008, leading the all-volunteer administrative team in moderating and enriching the online community.

The Foundation Board acknowledged co-founder, Manny Hernandez, who will continue to serve as President of the Foundation to spearhead the organization’s continued growth. Hernandez is stepping down as Board Chair, a position he has held since 2008. The Board also praised co-founder and Creative Director, Andreina Davila, who served as Secretary of the Board since 2008 and remains a member of the Board, while Henkel Garcia, Chief Executive Officer of Vision de Inversion in Caracas, Venezuela, was confirmed as Treasurer by the Board.

The election comes on the heels of the recent announcement by Diabetes Hands Foundation about the election of six outstanding new members to the organization’s Board of Directors, including Dr. Anne Peters, Jack Diaz, Adam Kaufman, Melissa Lee, Lorraine Sisto, and Juan Carlos Turriza: http://www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org/2012/05/board-of-directors-at-diabetes-hands-foundation-grows.

About the Diabetes Hands Foundation (www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org): We, at the Diabetes Hands Foundation believe that no one touched by diabetes should ever feel alone, because together we become stronger and have the power to generate positive change in ourselves and our community. Instead of looking at the disease, Diabetes Hands Foundation seeks to understand, connect and energize the millions of people living with this condition.

(Left to right: Manny Hernandez, President; Donna Hill, Chair; Melissa Lee, Secretary; Melissa’s new baby)