Country of Residence
United States
Age
19
Project title
Kopp Foundation for Diabetes
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
The Kopp Foundation for Diabetes is a youth-led 501(c)(3) building a network of university chapters that provide peer education and support on Type 1 diabetes, led by student presidents and executive boards.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://koppfoundation.org
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Scaling (We’re expanding impact to new locations or in new and innovative ways)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
I watched family members manage Type 1 diabetes with daily finger-pricks and constant vigilance, and I saw that the gap was not science. It was people, organized. Type 1 diabetes is widely misunderstood, and its warning signs are often missed for months, yet young people living with T1D, and the friends and families around them, rarely find accurate information or peer support where they already are: on campus. That was the spark: students could organize that support themselves, in their own communities.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Type 1 diabetes is widely misunderstood, and its warning signs are often missed for months. Young people living with T1D, and the friends and families around them, rarely find accurate information or peer support where they already are: on campus. Students who want to help usually have no structure for doing so. I watched family members manage this condition with daily finger-pricks and constant vigilance, and I saw that the gap was not science. It was people, organized.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
I founded the Kopp Foundation for Diabetes, a youth-led 501(c)(3), and built it as a network of university chapters. Each chapter has its own student president and executive board. The national office, which I lead as President, provides the shared mission, governance, speakers and campaigns; chapters decide and deliver locally. Chapters run peer education on Type 1 diabetes, host physician and researcher lectures, publish explainers, make cards and care items for children living with T1D, and partner with campus health organizations.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Chapters are active at 12 universities, including Michigan State, USC, UCLA, UMass Amherst, the University of Washington, Penn, Pitt, Temple, UC San Diego and Drexel. On October 8, 2025 we held a national virtual leadership forum opened by a physician keynote on the 100-year history of insulin. On September 24, 2026, Michigan State students hosted Dr. Ping Wang on image-guided diabetes research, and on October 15, 2026 the chapter tabled with Gift of Life Marrow Registry so students could join the stem-cell registry. UCLA members made cards for children facing T1D at their first meeting.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
KFD is different because it puts students, not a clinic or agency, at the centre of Type 1 diabetes awareness where students live and study: on campus. Each university chapter is led by its own student president and executive board and decides and delivers locally, while the national office provides the shared mission, governance, speakers and campaigns. That combination — local student leadership with shared national support — turns peer education, physician and researcher lectures, explainers and campus partnerships into a network that can reach students a single clinic or agency cannot, and that trains new student leaders each year.
How many people are on your team?
21
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Core leadership team of 21: Max Kopp (1), the foundation's eight-member board of directors, including physicians and a CPA (8), and the presidents of the 12 university chapters (12). Chapter presidents and executive boards plan and run their own community work; I lead the national structure — chapter model, board, speakers and campaigns — that makes that possible. Each chapter additionally has its own executive board and members.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Keep growing the chapter network and strengthening what chapters do together. Continue the campaigns chapters run together, including the World Diabetes Day virtual 5K (November 13-20, 2026), and give chapters one shared, reviewed print run of peer-education materials on recognizing T1D warning signs — the single most time-sensitive thing a student can learn — instead of materials each chapter produces locally. Every chapter will keep recruiting and renewing its leadership each year, so the work survives any one student, including me.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
Chapters recruit students on campus through peer education sessions on Type 1 diabetes, physician and researcher lectures, explainers, and partnerships with campus health organizations, and through making cards and care items for children living with T1D. Every chapter is led by a student president and executive board, so joining means taking real responsibility for a public problem in your own community, not just attending an event — and each chapter recruits and renews its leadership each year.
