Weeks after launching its first open call for diabetes advocates, Dexcom is spotlighting the resulting group of 16 people in a new awareness campaign.
The project kicked off Friday, World Diabetes Day, and stands apart from Dexcom’s past campaigns for the awareness day—like last year’s, which starred Nick Jonas and other famous faces—by featuring regular people from all over the world.
The 16 newly named advocates selected in the open call range from 6 to 68 years old, hail not only from all across the U.S. but also Germany, Canada, Australia and South Korea, and span several forms of diabetes, including Type 1, Type 2 and prediabetes.
The campaign showcases each person’s individual story alongside portraits captured at a photo shoot in Los Angeles, where the group had a chance to meet and share their experiences with one another.
Photographer Tommy Lundberg, who has Type 1 diabetes himself, was behind the lens, according to Dexcom, while two of the company’s celebrity spokespeople also surprised the advocates by showing up at the gathering: Lance Bass, the former *NSYNC boy band member who has spoken about using a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor to manage his Type 1.5 diabetes, and “Parks and Recreation” star Retta, an ambassador for the Stelo over-the-counter glucose sensor.
As Dexcom noted in a Friday announcement, the campaign marks the first time the company has opened up a call to the broader diabetes community to turn its World Diabetes Day spotlight on non-famous faces.
The open call began in September and closed last month, drawing 1,000 submissions from people around the world describing their efforts to uplift the diabetes community, per the devicemaker.
“Through advocacy, I strive to show others, especially children and newly diagnosed patients, that diabetes is not a limitation but an opportunity to grow stronger, inspire resilience and pursue ambitious goals,” Maria Alejandra Jove Valerio, one of the campaign’s stars, said in the announcement. “What began as a diagnosis at age seven has grown into a lifelong mission to uplift others.”