Brandy Barnes (left), her daughter Summer Barnes ’27 and husband Chris Barnes at a Carolina Football game.
Brandy Barnes ‘97, ’01 (M.S.W.) and her husband Chris Barnes ’95 are working to ensure that all Carolina students have an opportunity to feel welcomed and appreciated. The Barneses recently made a gift to SPARK in hopes of continuing what they loved about attending Carolina: building community.
SPARK is a student-created and student-led immersive opportunity for leadership development, dialogue, and self-reflection for first-year students at UNC interested in collective impact and positive change. The goal of the program is to empower members to thrive and build the tools they need to be successful at Carolina and beyond. Read more about SPARK.
Growing up in the small town of Hickory, North Carolina, Brandy was grateful that Carolina broadened her exposure to people from all backgrounds.
“Coming to Carolina was life-changing — that’s where I met my husband, and we now have a biracial daughter who is a senior at Carolina,” Brandy said. “Being from a small town, I know how important it was for me to be exposed to people who are different from me, so it’s important for me to ensure others have the same opportunity by strengthening programs that allow everyone to feel welcomed at Carolina.”
Brandy emphasized how important it is for students to find community, people to identify and share commonalities with, especially with her daughter in that same position now.
“As a parent, I worry about whether my daughter will find people she has things in common with, and is she going to feel welcome and like she belongs?” Brandy said.
(Chris and Summer Barnes at a Carolina Women’s Basketball game in 2020. Chris has been announcing all of the Home Women’s Basketball games for 10 years.)
SPARK is addressing that worry by giving students a program focused on belonging, empowerment and leadership, developing skills through a fall retreat and programming throughout the year.
Brandy values the leadership skills SPARK is igniting in the young members of the group because of her own Carolina experience.
She has Type 1 diabetes, and when she was a student at Carolina, she was involved in a student support group for people with diabetes. At the time, Dr. Margaret Vimmerstedt led the group and encouraged Brandy to become the leader.
“Having that support and someone believing in me and pushing me impacted how I viewed myself and the things that I went on to do,” Brandy said.
After graduating UNC-Chapel Hill with a psychology degree, Brandy worked at the UNC Diabetes Care Center under Verne S. Caviness Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Dr. John Buse. He mentored and encouraged Brandy to go to graduate school and gain more experience in the field. While she pursued a master of social work at Carolina, she worked in the care center, which helped her support herself through school while conducting clinical research in diabetes.
Brandy’s goal after obtaining her master’s degree was to be a diabetes social worker at the clinic. She would have been the first diabetes social worker there, helping patients deal with the mental weight of diabetes and find affordable resources. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out, so she pivoted.
First, Brandy worked with the American Cancer Society; then she returned to the diabetes field, selling insulin and sharing her personal experiences with providers.
In 2008, she created Diabetes Sisters, a national nonprofit for women with diabetes that is still successful today. She took an even more patient-oriented job in 2015, selling the insulin pump she has personally worn since 2012. Still with that company, she now oversees the product at a national level, working with Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Services and the Department of Defense to provide easy access to the product.
Brandy hopes SPARK members learn life is a winding path, but saying yes to opportunities, especially when they have support, is crucial.
“I think it’s important for students to understand that life’s not this linear thing where it all makes sense — you figure it out along the way,” Brandy said. “Many leadership opportunities led and empowered me to create the nonprofit. SPARK provides opportunities like that for the students that attend, by building a meaningful community and finding the support they need while they’re there in college.”
In honor of SPARK’s 10th anniversary this year, the program has set out to raise $10,000 in celebration of 10 years of student leadership, collective impact, and positive change. Join Brandy and Chris Barnes to support SPARK today.
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