JDRF to Honor Laura and Mark Hawkins at the 2019 Hope Gala

On Saturday, May 18, 2019, the JDRF Greater Bay Area Chapter will host the 21st Annual Hope Gala, bringing prominent business leaders and families from around the Bay Area to The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco for an evening of fundraising, celebration, and networking. The event will benefit JDRF and type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Last year the Hope Gala raised more than $2.7 million. Now in its 21st year, the Hope Gala has become a top charity event in the Bay Area. NBC Bay Area Reporter, Sam Brock will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the fifth year in a row.

Each year at the Hope Gala, JDRF presents the Living & Giving Award to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to the foundation’s mission of improving lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its complications. This year’s honorees, Laura and Mark Hawkins, were selected for their extraordinary commitment to JDRF and to the health and well-being of our community.

Mark is President and Chief Financial Officer of Salesforce, the cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco. When he served as Corporate Chair of the 2017 JDRF One Walk, San Francisco, under Mark’s leadership, the San Francisco Walk raised more than $1,000,000 that year. He also helped mobilize Salesforce on a national level and their Walk team raised over $490,000. Additionally, Salesforce inspired other companies to get involved, collectively raising over $147,000 for JDRF’s mission. Although neither have a family connection to T1D, Laura and Mark continued their involvement with the San Francisco Walk in 2018, and Salesforce helped incentivize participants to raise well over $1,000,000 for the second year in a row.

Mark has more than 30 years of experience with leading finance organizations at global software and technology companies, including Salesforce, Autodesk, Logitech, Dell and Hewlett–Packard. He serves on the board of SecureWorks, a global leader in cyber security solutions, and Plex Systems, a leader in cloud based ERP for manufacturers.

Laura and Mark are active leaders in philanthropy, supporting not only JDRF, but the American Heart Association, the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, the Salvation Army, and Living Water Mission, a nonprofit based in Michigan that digs wells in Kenya for its citizens to have clean drinking water. The couple are enthusiastic supporters of their alma mater, Michigan State University.

Laura is deeply passionate about her work at House of Hope in Los Gatos, a food pantry that she has supported since its creation in 2009. Laura also knits crib blankets for Project Linus - a nationwide organization that gives handmade blankets to children in need when they leave the hospital.

The 2019 Hope Gala Co-Chairs are Amy Lewis and J. George Hume. The Executive Leadership Team is Sam Cash, Jerry DiMaggio, Jeremy Greenberg, Art Ringness, and Dan Shapiro. Fund A Cure speakers will be The Tobin Kids: Cal, Avery, Tessa and Trevor. Learn more at www.jdrf.org/bayarea/hope-gala.

About JDRF

JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Our mission is to improve lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. To accomplish this, JDRF has invested more than $2 billion in research funding since our inception. We are an organization built on a grassroots model of people connecting in their local communities, collaborating regionally for efficiency and broader fundraising impact, and uniting on a national stage to pool resources, passion, and energy. We collaborate with academic institutions, policymakers, and corporate and industry partners to develop and deliver a pipeline of innovative therapies to people living with T1D. Our staff and volunteers throughout the United States and our six international affiliates are dedicated to advocacy, community engagement and our vision of a world without T1D.

About Type 1 Diabetes (T1D)

T1D is a chronic, life-threatening autoimmune disease that can strike children and adults at any age. It requires rigorous 24/7 monitoring of blood glucose levels—even overnight—to avoid potentially lethal highs and lows in blood sugar, as well as other devastating complications like kidney, eye and nerve diseases. While T1D’s causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Its onset is sudden and is not related to diet or lifestyle. In T1D, the body’s immune system destroys cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, meaning the body produces little to no insulin to regulate blood sugar and get energy from food. There is nothing you can do to prevent T1D, and—at present—nothing you can do to get rid of it.

Learn more at www.jdrf.org/bayarea/hope-gala