Staff
Jim Carroll
Chief Executive Officer
Jim comes to The diaTribe Foundation after seven years as the Vice President of Finance and Administration at Common Sense Media and 6 years as the Managing Director of Equality California where he led the team to successfully pass over 70 pieces of legislation to achieve legal equality for LGBT Californians. He also worked at an environmental health organization called The Breast Cancer Fund and at the National office of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Jim graduated from the University of Florida and lives with his husband, Scott, and his yellow labrador retriever, Atlas, in San Francisco.
Charles M. Alexander, MD, FACP, FACE
Scientific and Medical Advisor
Charles M. Alexander, MD, FACP, FACE is an endocrinologist who has more than 35 years of experience in diabetes – in both direct care and research. Since 2016, he has provided advisory services to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Dr. Alexander retired from Merck in 2015 after nearly 25 years in both Outcomes Research and Medical Affairs. Prior to joining Merck, he practiced diabetes, endocrinology and internal medicine in Los Angeles for ten years and was Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (KSOM/USC). Dr. Alexander has been a member of Penn Medicine’s Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (IDOM) Leadership Council since 2016, and an advisor for the diaTribe Foundation since 2016. Dr. Alexander received his medical degree from KSOM/USC where he completed his postgraduate training in internal medicine and diabetes/endocrinology. Dr. Alexander is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology-Metabolism and is a Fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Endocrinology. He is the author of numerous scientific articles and a frequent reviewer for medical journals.
Rachel Allen
Development Manager
Rachel Allen joined The diaTribe Foundation in 2022 as the organization's Development Manager. Rachel's previous experience includes corporate fundraising in the nonprofit sector, where she initiated and cultivated relationships with corporate donors raising funds for U.S. national parks. She graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University with a B.A. in International Relations and Economics. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading, giving book recommendations to her friends and family, and hanging with her rescue cat, Punkin Pie.
Anna Brooks
Managing Editor, diaTribe Learn
Anna Brooks joined The diaTribe Foundation in 2023. She has been a journalist for over a decade and holds a master’s degree in journalism with a specialization in health and science. Originally from Calgary, Anna has worked as a multimedia journalist in Canada, Thailand, and Kenya. Based in New York City, Anna has written and produced award-winning features about health, science, and the environment for the Guardian, Popular Science, Everyday Health, Vice, the New York Post, and more. When she’s not working, Anna is usually hanging out with her rescue dogs Sully and Spooky.
Alex Cameron
Senior Manager of Individual Giving
Alex joined The diaTribe Foundation in October 2023. She is a passionate fundraiser who enjoys meeting new people and building long lasting relationships, ensuring a fulfilling donor journey. Her role at diaTribe focuses on ensuring current individual donors are cultivated and stewarded in meaningful ways, while also growing our donor base, therefore growing our revenue. Her goal is to build meaningful relationships with our donors, keeping them up to date with our work and bringing them closer to the charity. Originally from the UK, Alex brings eight years of fundraising experience at Cancer Research UK, the world's largest independent cancer research charity. She now lives in San Francisco with her husband, two children and their energetic rescue dog. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, camping, hiking and listening to podcasts.
Susannah Chen
Managing Editor, diaTribe Learn
Prior to joining The diaTribe Foundation in 2023, Susannah Chen was a longtime freelance writer and editorial content strategist with a focus on food, drink, and travel. A two-year saga involving gestational diabetes, pancreatitis, a type 2 diabetes misdiagnosis, and a type 1 diabetes diagnosis led to her latest passion: diabetes education and advocacy. She is particularly interested in reducing diabetes stigma, empowering those with diabetes who have been recently diagnosed, and addressing the social, emotional, and psychological barriers associated with all types of diabetes.
Tom Cirillo
Deputy Director
Tom has been Deputy Director at The diaTribe Foundation since March 2020. Prior to that, he served as a special advisor to diaTribe during a key period of its growth into the organization it is today. Tom brings to the diaTribe team over 30 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including 11 years as CEO of Portland Baroque Orchestra and 5 years as Chief Advancement Officer of Portland Japanese Garden. At the center of Tom’s passion is to bring talented minds together to achieve outcomes that are greater than the sum of their parts. Through authentic communication he endeavors to foster relationships and conversations between thought leaders to create better understanding and drive creative action. He is honored and greatly fulfilled by the opportunity to devote the current phase of his career to improving the lives of people with diabetes.
Tom received his BA in Economics and German from Amherst College, where he met diaTribe founder Kelly Close over 30 years ago, and continued his studies at the Free University of Berlin. In 2003-2004 he completed the non-profit executive leadership fellowship program at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Matthew Garza
dStigmatize Director
Matthew Garza joined the diaTribe Foundation in 2020 after graduating from the Johns Hopkins University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. He also holds a certificate in Effective Writing for Healthcare from Harvard Medical School and in 2022 he helped launch diaTribe’s dStigmatize program, which he currently serves as the director of. He has a passion for understanding how stigma impacts health outcomes for marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ community and those living with chronic conditions – including diabetes and obesity. He currently lives in San Francisco and will tell anyone who will listen that it's the best city on Earth.
Audree Hall
Digital Campaign Manager, Time in Range Coalition
Audree joined the diaTribe Foundation in 2022 as the Time in Range Coalition’s Digital Campaign Manager. She has lived with Type 1 diabetes for 15 years and is a former Digital Director at Do Big Things, a full-service digital firm. There, she helped strategize, build, and implement digital campaigns across a multitude of advocacy, political, and commercial clients that include award-winning digital advertisement and community engagement campaigns, social media management, email programs for over half a million subscribers, video production, website development, and more. Prior to working in digital, she worked in Congress within the communications departments, bringing a unique perspective on advocacy and digital to the team.
As a former camper, counselor, and Med Staff at diabetes camp, and a patient advocate at many different levels, she has seen how diabetes can affect people of any age and is fiercely passionate about helping people living with diabetes find the tools and education they need to live the best lives possible. She spends her time hiking, eating good food, watching the Houston Astros win, and trying her best to stay in range! She resides in Durham, NC with her cat, Sophie and her partner, Jackson.
Derek Helm
Senior Operations Manager
Based in San Francisco, Derek joined diaTribe in 2024. After graduating in 2013 with a Bachelor's in Business from Arizona State University, he has developed a diverse professional background in marketing, business development, finance, and operations—a jack of all trades and master of none. Outside of work, Derek was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. He enjoys producing music, playing guitar and bass, surfing, playing basketball, practicing jiu-jitsu, and spending quality time with his girlfriend and their two cats: Nipsey & Snoop.
Julie Heverly
Senior Director, Time in Range Coalition
Julie is thrilled to bring her combined 12+ years of leadership at the American Diabetes Association and 23 years of patient experience to The diaTribe Foundation. Julie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after her junior year at Washington & Jefferson College. After graduation, she provided public affairs and PR counsel to clients like the Eisenhower Presidential Museum, The National Center for Victims of Crime and Americans for Alaska. She eventually earned a position at Burson Marsteller, where she consulted a Fortune 500 company on government and community affairs. In 2006, Julie accepted her first staff position with the American Diabetes Association as Market Director in Richmond, VA. She oversaw some of the country’s most successful ADA campaigns during her tenure in Philadelphia, as Director of Development and as Executive Director in Western PA and Eastern Ohio. Julie and her husband, Steve, reside outside Pittsburgh, PA with their daughter, Vivian.
Eritrea Mussa Khan
Social Media Manager
Eritrea Mussa Khan joined diaTribe in February 2022. As a type one diabetic for 20 years, Eritrea has worked in the Diabetes Space as an advocate for most of her adult life. Because of her background, Eritrea has lived in other parts of the world and experienced how different having diabetes can be due to where you live or how much money you have. She has always carried a strong love of travel and culture. Both of her parents are immigrants to America and a big part of her life has been spent traveling to visit family around the world. In her free time, Eritrea co-hosts DiabeticsDoingThings, a podcast that focuses on telling the amazing stories of people living with Diabetes. Eritrea enjoys reading, napping and above all laughing as much as possible. She resides in Dallas, Texas with her 3 pups.
Mareda Lewer
Project Coordinator, Time in Range Coalition
Mareda joined The diaTribe Foundation in 2023 after completing her master's degree in public health. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 20, Mareda is passionate about improving access to healthcare, community support, and education for people living with chronic diseases. After working as a paralegal for Covington & Burling, LLP, Mareda returned to school where she worked in public health policy research and joined the board of two small health nonprofits. She is thrilled to bring this experience and passion to work making life better for people with diabetes at diaTribe. In her free time, you can find Mareda drinking too much coffee, getting outside to run, camp and hike with her husband, or baking another gluten free treat.
Franklin Medina
SEO Manager
Franklin Medina is an experienced search engine optimization specialist with over ten years of experience across various industries and some Fortune 500 companies. He has worked on both sides of the SEO industry, providing him with a unique perspective and the ability to optimize both the technical and content aspects of websites; he has worked with most of the SEO tools available, with an eye on data science. Franklin attended the University of Phoenix, where he studied Network & Telecommunications.
Shae Puckett
dStigmatize Content Manager
Based in San Diego, Shae brings to the diaTribe team a background in research, storytelling, and neuronutrition. She graduated with a BS in Behavioral Neuroscience from Northeastern University and an MS in Nutrition from MSU Denver. Shae previously led the content team at a patient education and empowerment start-up aimed at transforming the inflammatory bowel disease healthcare experience. Shae has a passion for connecting with patients, breaking down barriers to understanding scientific research, and improving access to human-centered care. When she isn't hard at work bringing an end to diabetes stigma, you can find her adventuring with her dog, Sharkie, or experimenting on new gluten free baked goods in the kitchen.
Diane Scherer
Development Director
Diane is very passionate about bridging generous corporate social responsibility funds and individual philanthropists with meaningful causes that make our world inspiring, healthy, and equitable. She brings her combined 15+ years of non-profit grant-making and fundraising experience and 37 years as a person with Type 1 Diabetes to The diaTribe Foundation. She received a BSBA from the Warrington School of Business at University of Florida. After two years working in a bank, she had a "career epiphany" and wanted to pivot to non-profit work. She then pursued a Masters in Social Work at Wurzweiler School of Social work and has had roles that include- a $5 million grant portfolio on the issues of mental health and special needs in the NY Jewish community; and annual, capital, and planned giving fundraising roles where she has solicited millions of dollars for social causes. Through all of her previous roles in New York and Florida, she has learned to assess social needs, make grant/program allocation decisions, and work with donors on fulfilling these goals through personal cultivation and large-scale galas/events. Diane is a runner (she completed 2 half-marathons and fundraised for diabetes organizations to keep her motivated) and she enjoys her Peloton bike. She also really enjoys learning about all cultures through travel and photography. She has never known a life without Type 1 diabetes and is on a quest to get a perfect CGM line after her favorite food- sushi (very hard to carb count!). She lives in Florida with her husband and 3 children.