Why Kids With Type 1 Diabetes Need a Mentor Who's Lived It | Brandi Pillow
September 25, 2026
When her daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, Brandi Pillow found help for the medical side, but almost none for the emotional side. So she built braveONE.
In the first episode of The Sign-In Table, Matt Angerer talks with Brandi Pillow, founder of braveONE, a nonprofit that pairs kids living with Type 1 Diabetes with trained, screened adult mentors who live with T1D themselves. Brandi shares why a child needs someone older who has already lived it, and how meeting adults with Type 1 who are athletes, pilots and professionals shows kids the diagnosis doesn't have to stop them.
In this video
- What was missing on the emotional side after her daughter's diagnosis
- Why one-to-one mentoring reaches kids who don't open up in big groups
- What a mentor actually does with their mentee
- How braveONE matches a mentor and a child, beyond zip code
- Growing to meet demand without losing the personal connection
- What she wishes more people understood about raising a child with Type 1 Diabetes
Resources from this video
In this episode:
HOW TO HELP BRAVEONE Follow @joinbraveONE on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
ABOUT THE SIGN-IN TABLE The Sign-In Table is an interview podcast from VolunteerBadge. Every other Friday, host Matt Angerer talks with nonprofit leaders about why they started, the difference they make and how you can help.
