This month, “A Sweet Life” diabetes magazine featured NYC YLC Executive President, Andrew Mika.

“Dealing with diabetes is my life….Technology has improved so much because of what JDRF has done. Life is getting easier, there are less complications, people live longer—overall things are just better,” Mika boasts. “And the confidence I’ve gotten from this, the fulfillment, the chance to be part of something so much bigger than myself—it has helped me grow as a person. It takes me out of everyday life. For someone who is involved in finance or real estate or investing, you can get very caught up in your job. This is something bigger. This is a passion….Life is like walking up a staircase. You may fall down, and there’s a whole bunch of little baby steps you have to take to get to the top of the stairs, but that’s diabetes. I’m looking for a whole bunch of little baby steps.”

Click Here to read the full article on ASweetLife.org

Andrew Mika currently oversees the chapter’s Young Leadership Committee (YLC), a group of dedicated young professionals ages 21 through 35 committed to raising funds and awareness for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Their upcoming annual fundraiser, One Night, will be held on Thursday, May 18th at Marquee NYC from 7:30-11:30 pm. For tickets, please visit https://www.jdrfyoungleadersnyc.com/. Mika currently lives on the Upper West side with girlfriend, Monica Grandlienard, and has helped raised approximately $175,000 a year for research since 2014. Thank you to his family and friends who participated in interviews for this article.

Congratulations, Andrew!