About Kyle Thaller

Background on Kyle

I am 21 years old and am a Junior at the University of Lynchburg. My goal is to help others by saving lives, promoting change, and never giving up. I would eventually like to serve in elected public service for the United States.

I originally planned on attending the U.S. Naval Academy and becoming a Navy SEAL as a segue into this career. However, nearly nine years ago, I was diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes (T1D). Rather than giving up on my goal, I resolved to "Save Lives by Never Giving Up" and formed Kyle’s Campaigns for Change (KCC). See https://KCC-T1D.org.

Over the past few years I have:

Saved hundreds of lives by supporting diabetes clinics with nearly $2 million of insulin donated by KCC in Malakia and Gurei (Juba), South Sudan
Provided diabetes supplies to Hasheesa and Khartoum Children's Hospital in Sudan, all via KCC.
Gave speeches at national conferences in Memphis and Washington, D.C.
Keynote speaker at Global Leadership Conference in Washington D.C.; See pix above.
U.S. Senate Page for Senator Warner; Served at U.S. Senate on Senate Floor and attended a semester of High School at U.S. Senate
Developed and lead project for South Sudan Minister of Federal Affairs using nine former U.S. Senate Pages to brainstorm and document ideas promoting federalism. Project was personally presented to the SS Minister of Fed. Affairs and the First Vice President. KCC Policy branch sponsored the program.
Constitutional Intern for the Minister of Federal Affairs; lived and worked in Juba for 6 weeks and developed 170-page policy document on Federalism.
Served as inspiration for two other programs focusing on helping those in need in South Sudan. These include Spread Your Wings (https://SYW-impact.org) that provides college scholarships to aspiring young women leaders in South Sudan and HelpKids2Live (https://helpkids2live.org), an organization formed by my sister that helps children in greatest need with food shelter, and education (school books for schools that have zero books).
Clinton Foundation Fellow, Newman Fellow, Bonner Leader
Finalist for White House Intern
Formed R-GDI to promote global diversity among future leaders currently attending school at various universities. See https://R-GDI.org.

I enjoy rowing (erg), weightlifting, jogging, obstacle races, competitive table tennis, historical fiction, and hanging out with friends. My family includes my older brother and sister, Josh and Rachel, and my younger sister, Bridget.

Click here to find out more about Kyle's Campaigns for Change

Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact us if you cannot find an answer to your question.

I am a Type-1 Diabetic, too. Can I be a competitive rower?

There is a well known speech by Arnold Schwarzenegger that makes it very clear that each of us can do anything we want, but we have to be a) unafraid of failing, b) set our goals high, and c) work very hard; there are 24 hours each day and we only need to sleep for 6 hours. So, all I can say to your question is to try. Why not?

What is your best erg time?

My best erg time is just shy of 8 minutes. Even so, I only weigh 160 points and yet I can bench 250+ pounds. What I am saying is that some people are gifted in one way while others are gifted in another way. This program is looking for young people who are gifted with a great heart, lungs, and stamina.... and are tall.... but not necessarily gifted with huge muscles to perform a single, heavy lift.

Why don't we just try to get young athletes scholarships in another sport like soccer of basketball?

There are millions (literally) of applicants, nationwide, for a few thousand scholarship slots for basketball, soccer, and other sports. In each of these cases, the athlete needs to demonstrate exceptional skill to be recruited and given a scholarship. These sports do not have an athletic test; instead, you need to be really good at the particular sport.

By comparison, not too many people even try to obtain rowing scholarships since the sport is extremely hard, and only the very best athletes are even allowed to participate. Said differently, they don't even both to learn the skill of rowing UNTIL they are confirmed to be a phenomenal athlete. That's why the erg score is so important. Athletes in other sports would rarely, if ever satisfy the erg test requirement. Remember, there is no such test requirement for other sports. All of this means that if and when a student attains the erg score requirement, his/her chances of receiving a scholarship is 50x or more greater than what would occur with another sport.

The other reason is that the team-oriented symbology of rowing is important for South Sudan as this shows unity and success by working together as a team of ten people (akin to the ten states of South Sudan).

About Kyle Thaller

Background on Kyle

Frequently Asked Questions

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