Sierra Abel, MSW, is the older sister to Sailor Abel, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2001. Sierra attended her first Friends for Life conference with her family in 2002. She is excited to be a leader of the orange team. Sierra has graduated from the University of South Carolina with her masters in Social Work and hopes to become a Certified Diabetes Educator in the near future. She currently works as a case manager at Piedmont Athens Regional in Athens, GA. FFL is a place Sierra calls her second home. It’s where she is reunited with some of her best friends she calls "framily.” FFL helped changed her future career goals and impacted her in ways she is forever grateful for. Sierra hopes to inspire other people who wear orange bracelets, just like she does!

Sarah Lanning has attended Friends for Life since the first conference in 2000. Having grown up through the program, she loves to give back as an orange team leader. Sarah graduated from Georgia Tech with a BS in chemical engineering and currently works as a process engineer in biotech consulting. FFL is a second family to Sarah and she loves to see all the new faces and seeing the impact this organization makes in the lives of staff and attendees.