Champions in the Fight
Against Diabetes: Women Leaders Gear Up for the Ride
By JENNIFER HOUCHINS
In preparation for the 2007 American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure, three local women stepped up to ensure its success. Not only are they riding in the event and representing their companies’ teams, but they also took the lead in sponsorship, committee involvement and rider recruitment.
Laura Vaccaro, manager of learning education and development for Valero Energy Corporation; Brooks McCorcle, vice president – general manager for AT&T; and Dya Campos, director of public affairs at H-E-B, have all dedicated their time and energy to be champions in this year’s ride.
Laura has dedicated her services to the ADA over the past two years and is the 2007 Event Chair for the Tour de Cure. Her employer, a longtime partner of the ADA, has supported the Tour for the past six years, and is one of the 2007 Presenting Sponsors.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Laura found herself at home in San Antonio after completing her MBA at the University of the Incarnate Word. Her roots for community involvement and charity work stem back to her college career with the Sisters of Charity program, which eventually led her to her distinguished role at Valero.
Employed at Valero for over five years, she is pleased with the involvement and dedication the corporation shows to the local community. “It’s one of the things I personally find very gratifying about working here. Valero is committed to volunteerism. In fact, one of our core values is playing a leadership role in the community and giving back in some form. The American Diabetes Association is one of the ways I’ve chosen to be a part of the San Antonio community and share some of my talents and company resources to help others,” comments Laura.
When Laura began working at Valero, she reconnected with an old friend who then introduced her to cycling. One of the first events she ever did was the ADA’s Tour de Cure. “I was very nervous about the first ride. But when you get out there and see the beautiful route, enjoy the camaraderie with the other riders and see how many lives are touched by this awful disease, you realize you have no excuse not to just get out there and do it ,” says Laura. It became a personal fulfillment, as she realized she was riding for people with diabetes, as well as herself—who could be at-risk for diabetes.
Laura felt an immediate connection with the American Diabetes Association because she has close relatives affected by diabetes. She became the captain of the Valero team and eventually asked to step into the role of event chair. “I so enjoyed working with Cindy Rodriguez [ADA associate manager of the Tour de Cure], and then I got to meet the rest of the team at the ADA and became taken by their commitment, hard work and dedication. I felt that working on the committee was the least I could do to help,” she says.
When it comes to inspiring others, Laura gets very personal. She reflects on how she was uneducated about the disease until she watched her father and grandmother struggle with type 2. She was aware they developed diabetes because of their personal choices—eating habits and weight gain over the years—but did not understand the severity and the compounding effects of the disease. She also has a cousin her own age who has lost a leg to uncontrolled diabetes. “It’s when you understand the disease that you learn about the overall impact it has on the body,” Laura emphasizes.
When her father became ill after a surgical procedure, it was then she witnessed the disease’s impact. He was unable to fight the disease progress because of how it was affecting his system. “It was devastating to watch him suffer from diabetes because he didn’t understand the simple choices he could have made to prevent ever getting to that stage,” comments Laura.
Valero Energy understands the impact of diabetes and offers annual screenings at employee health fairs. Through their preventive steps, many employees have taken up cycling and other activities. Because of such changes, they are no longer pre-diabetic and are making better choices with their diets and nutrition. Laura often references healthy eating habits and physical activity as simple ways to reduce the risks for diabetes.
Laura and Valero both have committed to the local ADAchapter but more recently chose to become a national Tour de Cure Team, vowing to raise $100,000. Valero employees will be creating a sense of national unification as they team up with their local Tour de Cure events and ride for a cure.
Brooks McCorcle is a native Texan and feels very much at home in the Lone Star State. She began her 17-year career with AT&T after getting her MBA at Washington University in St. Louis and moved to San Antonio in 1997. She is vice president – general manager for AT&T, where she is responsible for serving as the local face for AT&T in the marketplace, growing the business and launching AT&T’s new TV services.
Brooks is no stranger to integrating business with community. She exemplifies her company’s corporate strategy of ‘connecting people together.’ San Antonio is AT&T’s global headquarters, so when she was looking for a local cause in which her team and other employees could get actively involved, she wanted it to be something that would make a significant impact. The ADA and Tour de Cure seemed like a perfect fit. “Diabetes is a huge issue, particularly here in San Antonio, where over 200,000 people suffer from effects of the disease,” she says. “It’s also a big issue for AT&T; last year over 7,000 of our employees were diagnosed with diabetes. We wanted to get involved with a cause where we could connect people in the community and our employees with the right information to promote awareness, healthy living and to find a cure.”
Fortunately, Brooks does not have a family history of diabetes. It was not until she met with the local senior executive director, Elizabeth Tobias, and her staff in 2006 that she became familiar with the nature of diabetes and its devastating effects on so many people. “Frankly, I was a new recruit last year,” admits Brooks. “But as I learned more about the impact of diabetes on so many people here in San Antonio, I became passionate about raising money for the cause, educating others, and becoming an advocate to help find a cure. I learned how important it is to help people to find better ways to cope with diabetes in their lives.”
Today, corporations face increasing health care costs. Brooks understood this concern from a business perspective and realized that “learning more about how to manage diabetes and getting involved in the Tour is another great way to help our employees improve their health. If they make changes, it ultimately affects our bottom line. Since I would not ask our employees to do something I was not willing to do myself, I took the Tour on as a personal challenge when I decided to ride. If I can do it, anyone can!” Through ‘lunch and learn’ sessions, several hundred AT&T employees were educated about diabetes; they recruited over 100 volunteers, and ultimately, 70 AT&T employees rode in the Tour in 2006.
AT&T has also paired up with the ADA on public relations campaigns for the Tour, and promoted the ride at their own events, registering riders and collecting donations. After a successful Tour in 2006, Brooks renewed the partnership for the 2007 Tour. She took it one step further and registered AT&T as a National Tour de Cure team once she found out that there were AT&T employees all over the country involved. AT&T nationwide teams will be striving to reach a goal of $100,000 to benefit the mission of the ADA.
The Tour, which travels from San Antonio to San Marcos on Day One, then to Austin on Day Two, requires a lot of logistical planning. Without the support of corporate volunteer groups, the event would not be successful. Brooks serves on the local leadership council and has received a ‘Recruiting People’ award on behalf of AT&T for the tremendous work they did in 2006. AT&T also continues to help ‘connect’ with their consumers at the Tour and provides riders with a variety of services at the finish lines in San Marcos and Austin.
“If corporations are looking for a way to put their money where it’s going to matter, supporting the ADA is great place to do it,” says Brooks.
Another longtime partner to the community and the American Diabetes Association is H-E-B. Leading the company in sponsorships and corporate involvement is Dya Campos. Dya notes that diabetes has become very personal with H-E-B, and they are well aware of the impact it has on many of their customers, partners and employees.
H-E-B is the Tour de Cure’s co-presenting sponsor with Valero Energy, and Title Sponsor AT&T. Like her corporate partners, Dya and H-E-B believe strongly in the personal touch they add to their donation. “We want to get directly involved with our customers’ lives, in their homes, what they’re eating, how they’re feeding their kids. That is very important to us. Not just giving funds to the organization, but actively playing a role in our customers’ lives. That is our commitment beyond our charitable giving,” says Dya.
Dya, like so many people in Texas, has a personal connection to this disease. “Diabetes is a focal point of discussion within my family, as I am certain it is with many Latino families. Several members of my family are affected by diabetes. Every time the family gets together, my grandmother brings out her testing kit and insists on testing everyone,” she reflects.
Dya understands there is a great need in South Texas to make a difference in the lives of those affected by diabetes. A mountain biker for the past five years, Dya recently picked up road cycling. After collaborating with the ADA and sponsoring the Tour de Cure, she decided to register for the ride and raise money and awareness for the cause. “Every corporation, when talking about the ADA, should consider how diabetes affects its employees and customers,” Dya stresses. H-E-B offers employees yearly testing and screenings.
Dya, along with her team, enjoy the support of the ADAstaff to help energize and inspire them. “The ADA staff does a wonderful job of really connecting with the companies and helping us to go that extra mile. H-E-B is thrilled to be a partner in the fight against diabetes.”
To learn more about how you can get your company involved with the American Diabetes Association, please call (210) 829-1765.
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