Breakthrough T1D Palm Beach Gala 2027

In June 2024, the Hilf family’s world changed when their oldest son, Gavin, was suddenly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just 13 years old. It was Father’s Day, and one the family will never forget. In those first days, Gavin’s biggest fear was losing the active, sports-loving life he loved, but Elana and Michael Hilf were determined that T1D would not take away his passions or his future. 

That summer, just six weeks after diagnosis, Gavin attended a T1D hockey camp, and the following year he went to sleep-away camp for kids with diabetes. The confidence, skills, and friendships he found there changed everything, and lit a spark. Together as a family, the Hilfs founded T1D Allstars, a nonprofit built to give other kids and teens with T1D that same sense of community, confidence, and belonging through sports. 

While Elana runs the day-to-day operations and marketing for T1D Allstars, Michael is the co-founder and CEO of Healthcare Funding Partners, a healthcare investment firm, channeling his professional success into direct support for the T1D community. 

Together, Elana, Michael, Gavin, and Tyler have turned their family’s journey into a movement of hope and resilience for kids everywhere living with T1D, and we’re honored to celebrate them at this year’s Gala. 

For Olivia Sandler, the mission to cure type 1 diabetes has never been abstract, it is the story of her family. Her husband, Pete, was diagnosed as a young child and has lived with the relentless demands of T1D for more than five decades, witnessing extraordinary advances while waiting for the one that matters most: a cure. His connection to that hope reaches back generations. Pete’s maternal grandmother, Hannah, who also had diabetes, was among the first recipients of insulin after its discovery; his father and brother also lived with type 1 diabetes. For Pete and Olivia, finding a cure is not simply important. It is deeply personal and increasingly urgent. 

Pete’s disciplined, determined approach to T1D and his refusal to let it limit his life—has shaped Olivia’s commitment to the community. His message to newly diagnosed families is simple: T1D requires discipline, but it should never hold anyone back. Olivia has turned that belief into action. The couple has long been active in Breakthrough T1D: they were the 2025 Gala Honoree Family; Pete serves as President of the Southeast Florida Chapter Board; and Olivia, a Co-Chair of the 2026 Illumination Gala, now serves as Fund A Cure Co-Chair, leading the evening’s pivotal moment of direct giving. Their three daughters have grown up watching them transform their family’s experience into hope and momentum toward a cure for countless others. 

Emily Beynenson carries forward a legacy that began with her grandmother, Lee Ducat, one of the founding mothers of what is now Breakthrough T1D. In 1970, after Lee’s son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, she turned her fear into action, gathering a small group of Philadelphia families for a single cocktail party that launched a movement toward a cure. More than five decades later, that movement has become the leading global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization. 

Emily and her sister, Erica Ducat Landes, served as Gala Chairs in 2025, honoring their grandmother’s history and the countless families who have built on her foundation. This year, Emily brings that same dedication to her role as Procurement Chair, helping shape the evening’s auction and giving opportunities that directly fuel research toward a cure. 

For Emily, this work isn’t just service, it’s family. Her leadership embodies the same conviction that drove her grandmother nearly 55 years ago: that together, a community can turn heartbreak into hope, and hope into breakthroughs.