Most organisations that employ people with type 1 diabetes (and other similar conditions) want to get it right. The difficulty is that type 1 diabetes is invisible, widely misunderstood, and rarely discussed at work. Managers do not know what to say. HR teams do not know what to ask. Colleagues notice something, say nothing, and the person with the condition carries on quietly, managing something deeply demanding while everyone around them remains largely unaware.
That gap has a cost. Not always a dramatic one. A quieter one. In the form of missed conversations, unnecessary friction, reduced productivity, and people with a serious chronic condition working harder than they need to in order to appear unaffected. Motivation suffers when people feel unseen. Performance suffers when the environment requires constant energy management rather than work.
This work exists to close that gap.
Sarah Harding was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 21, while studying Law at university. She went on to qualify as a chartered accountant and spent the following two decades in Chief of Staff and COO roles in large, complex international organisations. Throughout that career she helped businesses achieve their results: setting OKRs, building performance frameworks, leading organisational transformation, and managing the kind of complexity that demands both strategic clarity and operational discipline.
She managed type 1 diabetes well alongside all of it. Every single day. In boardrooms, budget meetings, high-pressure periods and ordinary ones. That is the point of difference. Not survival, not endurance, but genuine professional achievement and a full life, with the condition running alongside it.
She is not an outsider asking organisations to care about invisible conditions. She is someone who lived it, at seniority levels most people with the condition never talk about, for more than three decades. That combination of professional credibility and deep lived experience is rare, and it is what makes these sessions work.
Each session is designed to stand alone and to work in combination. An organisation might begin with the Lunch and Learn for its management layer, bring Sarah in for a Keynote at an all-staff event, or open with the Leadership Insight Session at C-suite and build from there. There is no prescribed order. Every entry point is the right one.
The accessible entry point. Gives managers the understanding and practical tools to support employees with type 1 diabetes and other chronic conditions, without making it awkward, clinical, or complicated. The tone is a knowledgeable colleague sharing hard-won insight over lunch.
Audience: HR professionals and people managers. Up to 20. Format: 45 minutes, in person or remote.
Built around the insight Sarah has gained on how business productivity, workplace culture, and managing chronic illness intersect. A roundtable that moves from the data to the personal to deeper understanding and mindset change.
Audience: C-suite and senior leadership. Up to 20. Format: 90-minute roundtable, in person.
The most practical session in the programme. One third Sarah presenting, one third breakout group work, one third building tangible organisational takeaways. Structured around a framework of chronic illness needs, from daily constant management through to the big life moments. Groups leave with something they can actually implement. Can support the evidence base for organisations working toward Disability Confident accreditation.
Audience: DE&I professionals and HR leads. Up to 20. Format: Half day, in person, facilitated.
Sarah's career story told at scale: from diagnosis through the pursuit of perfection to the discoveries that changed everything. Four anecdotes, four insights. A close that reframes how the room sees the people around them. Every attendee receives Able Guide No. 1 and leaves with one challenge: have a conversation they have not had yet.
Audience: All-staff or conference audiences. Up to 300. Format: 45 minutes, in person or large-format remote.
Bespoke formats are welcome. Every organisation is different. Contact sarah@theablediabetic.com to discuss alternative formats, combined sessions, or tailored content.
The UK Government's Disability Confident scheme is a voluntary accreditation for employers, designed to encourage organisations to recruit, retain and develop disabled people more effectively. It runs across three levels: Committed (Level 1), Employer (Level 2) and Leader (Level 3). Organisations working toward Level 2 and Level 3 are required to demonstrate genuine, evidenced understanding of disability and long-term health conditions in the workplace.
Type 1 diabetes is recognised as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, which means reasonable adjustments apply in the workplace. Conditions like it sit exactly in the territory Disability Confident accreditation is designed to address: invisible, widely misunderstood, and requiring a workplace culture that creates space rather than friction. A session with Sarah can form a direct and evidenced part of your Disability Confident programme.
Two free Able Guides are available to download now:
• 5 Things to Say to Someone Living with Type 1 Diabetes - for colleagues and friends who want to show up well but are not sure how.
• Managing Someone with Type 1 Diabetes - a practical guide for managers and HR professionals.
The Able Diabetic INVISIBLE IMPACTS, Sarah's memoir of her first decade with type 1 diabetes, during which she was starting her career, is available in bulk for workplace libraries and DE&I reading lists. Contact sarah@theablediabetic.com for bulk pricing.
To discuss a session, request a one-pager, or ask a question, contact Sarah directly at sarah@theablediabetic.com. All enquiries are treated as a conversation between professionals.