What Do Private-Public Partnerships Create?
November 6, 2021 was a difficult day — one our family will never forget. It followed one of the highest personal accomplishments of my life just three days before. My first book, Inspiring Generational Leadership: Your Guide to Design a Conscious Culture had just achieved Amazon Best Seller status in five categories. The whole family was together at my book launch party — we were celebrating, joyful and as always, very close and connected.
I love this family that my husband, Tom, and I created since our marriage in 2009. My son Alex and Tom’s daughter Amy, are as close as biological siblings, sharing their personal challenges; often challenges that they don’t even share with us, their parents!
Unbeknownst to me at the book launch party was Amy’s silent fear that our 8-year-old grandson, Hudson, might have Type One Diabetes (T1D). With her master’s degree in pediatric medicine and as a NICU nurse for over eighteen years, Amy’s well aware of T1D symptoms. After testing Hudson’s blood sugar at home, he was immediately admitted to the children’s hospital. Normal blood sugar is 70–110 mg-dl, Hudson’s was 722 mg-dl! Mama Amy’s instincts were spot on.
This diagnosis was devastating to all but especially to Amy because of her awareness of the lifetime challenges of a diabetic including hypoglycemia mild, moderate or severe which can lead to coma. Ketoacidosis, which creates confusion, weakness, extreme thirst, even death. Microvascular complications can lead to eye, kidney and nerve disease and macrovascular complications can affect the heart.
As we have all learned, and what Amy knew instantly, is that Hudson’s life has forever been altered. Hudson is quite lucky to have Amy as his mother; few children are as blessed. It is a complicated disease to navigate but with Amy’s extensive medical knowledge and the support of the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation, JDRF, they quickly learned to navigate this difficult burden. (www.jdrf.org)
JDRF is the world’s largest nonprofit funder of type 1 diabetes research. They extensively fund innovative research, advocate for government action and provide local community support. At any time, but especially at early diagnosis, JDRF creates a much-needed lifeline.
As a family, we endeavor to support each other but ultimately the burden has fallen on Amy and Gary to navigate this new reality in addition to Hudson and his younger sister, Aubrey. For children, it absolutely demands entire family support.
After doing some research, Amy and Gary advocated consistently for a Dexcom G6 CGM device, (constant glucose monitoring) — even before leaving the hospital. As parents, their most pressing concern was Hudson’s safety. Their every thought was learning this new normal of blood glucose maintenance; it grieved them to let him out of their sight. They knew the G6 would bring them elusive peace of mind because notifications are set-up on everyone’s smart phone so the whole family would know exactly what his readings are every minute of the day no matter where he is. Peace of mind was something they had lost and regaining it was a wonderful gift.
Eight years old at diagnosis, it took a few months to be eligible to receive an insulin pump. During this time, our little guy had to endure multiple, painful, stress inducing shots a day. It was heart-breaking for all but especially Amy; mothers aren’t designed to cause their baby’s pain. The G6 also eliminated the need for endless finger pricks; a relief for all but especially for Hudson!
Who is Dexcom and why have their products become such a game changer? Dexcom was founded in 1999 in San Diego, literally across the street from my company, Innovative Commercial Environments. They have been studying CGM for decades based on groundbreaking research from 1967, including collaboration with JDRF! The founders believed that minute to minute continuous glucose monitoring, is the most effective way to manage the disease. The G6 CGM system was FDA approved in 2019 and it is truly a life changing device for those managing the weight of T1D.
Dexcom is not only making a difference in the physical lives of patients suffering with T1D, they endeavor to shift the emotional heaviness of the disease. Based on the amazing stories and photos from the Dexcom website (www.dexcom.com) and their Facebook page, their Warrior Community patients are living very full and active lives, offering great hope for all diabetic patients.
They designate their patients as “warriors” because that’s what they are! Prior to CGM technology, diabetes was a very difficult disease to monitor, affecting every aspect of the diabetics’ life from what they ate, where they traveled, their athletic activities. Dexcom monitors and insulin pumps give patients confidence, peace of mind, and help to manage their diagnosis. That’s why it’s such a complete game changer for patients!
But even more than the physical support their products provide, Dexcom endeavors to create a supportive community and positive experiences for all their valued patients. They make a special effort to encourage children and their families struggling with this devastating diagnosis.
This is our story of one such perfect, forever memorable, Dexcom experience!
Amy heard about the Dexcom Warrior and Employee Day with the San Diego Padres through a JDRF outreach effort. She submitted Hudson’s application to participate and by some wonderful miracle, he was chosen to be the Padres Warrior of the day!
As the Dexcom Padre’s Warrior, Hudson was able to not only attend the August 20 Padres game, but he also was able to have his entire Little League baseball team — also the Padres — attend! Dexcom hosted twenty-seven of us which included one child’s parent and our entire family. Hudson’s Padres team had just recently won their Little League’s championship. It was an astonishingly memorable day for all these 8–9-year old’s and all received an official San Diego Padres shirt with their name embroidered on their jersey!
The day started out with an hour plus behind-the-scenes tour of the Padres stadium which included the history of how the stadium was designed and built. All 27 of us were personally escorted thru Petco Park, passing thru some of the more intimate locations where the players warm up, their batting cages, to the more luxurious viewing suites such as the Gallagher private box. We landed in our own private suite loaded with beverages, peanuts, hot dogs — it was incredible and the kids loved it.
It happened to also be Hudson’s 9th birthday and the Dexcom representatives went even further by providing balloons and a birthday cake. They were unbelievably kind.
Dexcom shifted a devastating lifetime diagnosis into a child’s unforgettable day — a day that would never have happened had he not been diagnosed with T1D.
But the memories had just begun! Hudson went on to the field to warm up, along with his parents and sister. He threw out the first pitch — which was undoubtedly unsettling for a nine-year-old in that huge stadium with everyone watching. Thankfully Hudson threw a strike! Aubrey was tasked with announcing “Play Ball” as the Play Ball Kid! This wasn’t just the most memorable moment of their lives; it was the most memorable moment of mine and our whole family!
Our story is just one tale of what a private-public collaboration can entail; just one example of how these partnerships positively impact our community, bringing families together and creating memorable lifetime experiences.
Another personal example of the impact of private-public partnership entails Hudson’s father and our son-in-law, Gary Cray. Employed at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) for just over a year, Gary has quickly been recognized as a leader and a champion for those often times marginalized in our society. Gary has a kind heart and when he learned about the JLL-supported Best Buddies program, he immediately signed up as an ambassador. (www.bestbuddies.org)
Best Buddies is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Their programs empower people with IDD by helping them form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve their communication and public speaking skills, and ultimately, learn to feel valued by society.
Gary has been an active and vocal supporter of Best Buddies; he was even nominated as a Best Buddies Champion of the Year! He has worked to raise funds and awareness in support of this worthy non-profit. What is extraordinary is that his efforts are completely supported by JLL, by his employer. That’s the special ingredient in this recipe!
Why does JLL support social initiatives such as Best Buddies? Because they are well-aware that real estate businesses bring value to the community when they promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives. Covid-19 accelerated their efforts, substantiating JLL’s goals to evolve as a more socially responsible commercial real estate leader. JLL leaders Matt Stavrou and Syreeta Bayne detailed JLL’s efforts to strengthen their corporate purpose and embedded sustainability practices in this article Why social awareness at companies is on the rise | JLL
“COVID-19 is a wakeup call that’s shown how much work there is to do on social responsibility in real estate,” says Matt Stavrou, socio-economic lead in JLL’s upstream sustainability services team. “It’s given investors, developers and landlords a better idea of what they can do to improve their resilience. The social ‘S’ in ESG between investors and developers isn’t fully established yet,” he says. “A lot of focus is placed on sustainability in construction but the real impact will be in the operational side of buildings. That’s where real estate can really create social value.”
Inaction on this front has led to the creation of places that lack social cohesion or useable green space, which can reflect negatively on asset values and rents.
“COVID-19 has highlighted the existing pressure points within the property industry and society more broadly,” Stavrou says.
“The future of real estate is all about being more compassionate to both employees and tenants”, says Syreeta Bayne, head of social value in JLL’s managed services team, “reputational risk is playing on the mind of business leaders who have traditionally focused on the bottom line and the immediate workforce.”
But how does JLL global policy trickle down and positively bolster local communities? My son in law added context to that:
“I was looking for a way to make a positive impact in my community and what I found in Best Buddies was a community made up of such incredible individuals. Compassionate role models and true heroes of their schools, communities, and social circles; they show the power of what friendship can bring to each of our lives”, noted Gary Cray, Director, SME-IFM JLL.
Life is always a challenge with unexpected predicaments lurking around every corner. But when employers — for-profit as well as non-profit organizations — collaborate together in support of their community, exceptional positive outcomes can ensue.
This article sought to answer what private-public partnerships can create and that answer is:
Private-public partnerships create a stronger community for everyone!
Do you have a story to share? Would you like to connect with other like-valued leaders seeking to create stronger community partnerships? Business is evolving and this evolution of private-public partnerships is resulting in unimaginable, much-needed positive change. Why not become part of this wonderful evolution? Working in partnership, we can make our exceptional San Diego village even better! To learn more, go to www.causesandiego.org
