Phil Southerland

Phil Southerland is a global ambassador for diabetes and is committed to educating and empowering people with diabetes across the world. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Team Novo Nordisk, the world's first all-diabetes pro cycling team, and President and Founder of the non-profit organization, the Team Type 1 Foundation.

Phil was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just seven months old when doctors told his mother he was unlikely to live past the age of 25. Now in his 30's, the former professional cyclist credits cycling with saving his life by helping manage his diabetes from a very young age.

He is driving a global movement to redefine the boundaries for those living with diabetes by advocating managed care through the Team Type 1 Foundation and Team Novo Nordisk.

Phil launched these organizations as grassroots initiatives with the lofty goal of putting a group of cyclists with diabetes in the epic "Race Across America", a brutal cross-country challenge they subsequently won two years in a row. With that early success, the team took off and become a magnet for other athletes with diabetes and an inspiration for many more.

In 2012, Phil and the team partnered with Novo Nordisk to create Team Novo Nordisk – a squad of world-class athletes who are all living with diabetes. Today, Team Novo Nordisk is spearheaded by the world’s first all-diabetes pro-cycling team and features a development team, elite team and one female professional track star, Mandy Marquardt.

Phil believes in using sports as a platform to help change the health of the world.

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