Paul Bishop heads to his office every day, hoping that the work he does over the next nine hours will push the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation closer to a cure for that disease, rendering him unemployed.

“We’re in the business of putting ourselves out of business,” he said. “I love it.”

Bishop, 37, is in his third year as executive director of the Des Moines chapter of the foundation, leading a local fund-raising campaign to provide money for research to find a cure for juvenile diabetes. His increasing passion for the cause has created a ripple that has made the local chapter an icon for success throughout the organization.

The Des Moines chapter hosted the JDRF’s second-largest Walk to Cure Diabetes, the charity’s highest per-capita fund-raiser. It’s Iowa offices, located in Johnston, Sioux City and Cedar Rapids, generated approximately $2.7 million in annual revenue in fiscal year 2004.

“We are closer than ever to finding a cure for diabetes,” Bishop said.

Bishop’s career began in Washington, D.C., first in the office of Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and then with the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, where he worked as a state government relations representative. In 1993, he became director of the Iowa Medical Political Action Committee, also serving as manager of legislative affairs.

“I love relationship building,” Bishop said. “Politics is really about building relationships and reaching a mutual compromise and putting forth something that’s going to benefit others.”

In 2000, he left the Iowa Medical PAC to found The Bishop Advantage, a small company that assisted in developing public policy and strategic planning for not-for-profit companies. “It really gave me an opportunity to build direct relationships with people from varying political, professional and socioeconomic backgrounds and support them in their life’s work,” he said.

The death of his first wife eight years ago, coupled with the birth of his 15-month-old twin daughters, Ella and Abby, gave Bishop a new outlook on life. He said the birth of his daughters caused him to become rededicated to his efforts to help others.

“There are times when I go into my girls’ room to check on them, just because,” Bishop said. “But parents of kids with type 1 diabetes have to go check on their kids, to ensure the health of their children.”

He said the common denominator between his career in politics and his position with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is “trying to leave this world a little better than when we came in.”

“We have a story to tell – these amazing kids,” Bishop said. “Their childhood’s been taken from them a little bit. But they are the ones who give when I’m having a bad day. I’ll get an e-mail from one of their parents, I’ll get a card from one of them, and that is why we do this. If they can live with having 5-10 finger pokes, five shots a day, I think I can work through seven hours of trying to raise money.”