Lee Ducat on Forming JDRF

Since she learned her son had Type 1 diabetes in the late 1960s, Lee Ducat didn't just wish for a cure, she worked for a cure. How could she connect with people in the same situation? "I didn't really know how to do it," she said. "But there was one thing I knew how to do – throw a cocktail party." So that's what she did. With the help of her son's doctor, she brought everyone together and offered membership forms that led to the formation of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which has raised more than $2 billion to fund research.