By Jack Wagner, JDRF One Walk, Silicon Valley, Committee Member

Shortly after his diagnosis with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in October 2005, Garrett Jensen, aged 13 at the time, was taken by his father to his first JDRF One Walk. Held at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, OR, he was surrounded by a community of other individuals with T1D. People gave him words of hope, exposed him to insulin pumps, and educated him on the research efforts underway by JDRF in search for a cure.

Eleven years have passed and Garrett, now relocated to the Bay Area post his graduation from Santa Clara University in 2014, is attending his sixth One Walk, this one being held at Levi’s Stadium on October 9. Garrett is serving as the team captain for his company team, EY Carb Accounters.

The team consists of friends and colleagues from accounting firm EY. Asked about the team, which he is captaining for his second consecutive year, Garrett had the following to say:

“We do much more than just count pennies. In fact, we are professional carb counters. Not surprisingly, there are a number of firm leaders and employees who are affected by T1D, T2D, pre-diabetes, family of diabetics, friends with diabetes, etc. Using this platform, we hope to make a financial and more importantly in-person impact in our Bay Area community when it comes to finding a cure.”

While organizing the EY Carb Accounters is quite a significant undertaking, it is just a small piece of Garrett’s overall involvement with T1D-related organizations. He is a founding member and project leader for the JDRF Young Leadership Committee in the Silicon Valley, a frequent test trial participant at Stanford, on the planning committee for JDRF One Walk, Silicon Valley, and a longtime participant and staff member at the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp (CDBC).

For those unfamiliar with the CDBC, it is a week-long basketball camp for 10 to 17-year-olds put on every summer by the Chris Dudley Foundation that was formed by Chris Dudley, a Yale graduate and long-time professional basketball player on the Portland Trailblazers. Garrett was a camper himself for four years and this summer was his seventh year participating as a staff member. Through the camp he has met some of his best friends and found a community who can connect over their disease and basketball.

This sense of community is a big aspect to why Garrett is also drawn to JDRF. Talking about his participation at the Walk last year, he said:

“I have experienced the same feeling I did that cool, fall morning in Portland over a decade ago. This time with like-minded professionals doing amazing work during the day and volunteering to make One Walk impactful for every single person who attends, and striving to make each dollar go towards finding a cure.”

On Walk Day be on the lookout for the EY Carb Accounters with Garrett at the helm. They’re working hard to close the GAAP to a cure.

Register for the JDRF One Walk today! walk.jdrf.org

​More about Garrett Jensen
Americas Corporate Responsibility at EY
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Garrett is responsible for supporting the implementation and execution of the EY College MAP (Mentoring for Access and Persistence) signature volunteer program. A multi-year, group mentoring program focused on providing access to higher education for underserved youth, he works with internal and external program partners to improve curriculum and program delivery, student tracking, and reporting.