Erik Fay is a 2011 graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. There he studied Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. He served as a law enforcement officer for 6 years, receiving multiple Merit Awards and even a Life Saving Award. Erik began his work in the transplant field in 2018 as a Tissue Donation Coordinator with New England Donor Services. During his time in the Tissue Operations Department, he became a subject matter expert in tissue donation. Erik achieved the title of Certified Tissue Banking Specialist in 2020. After working as a Preceptor training new hires in the role, he was promoted to Tissue Operations Clinical Educator in March of 2024.

In her current role Gretchen leads the donor referral and donor services center for Tennessee Donor Services, Sierra Donor Services and New Mexico Donor Services.  Having the privilege to serve others working in donation for almost 20 years, Gretchen believes that the gift of donation can provide hope in some of life's darkest moments.

Gretchen holds her CTBS, CT.  She also earned her Bachelor of Science from University of Wisconsin- La Crosse and her Master of Arts in Counseling from Lakeland University.  She and her family currently live in Nashville, TN, but she still missed the winter in Wisconsin.

Wendy Garrison is part of the leadership team with the hospital-based organ procurement organization (OPO) in San Diego, California.   Lifesharing is a top-performing OPO serving a diverse population of just over 3.5 million in San Diego and Imperial Counties.  Wendy began her career as a Trauma nurse in Memphis, TN.  It was here Wendy discovered her passion for working with families who were experiencing trauma and end-of life.  She began working with the Memphis-based OPO in 2007 starting as a coordinator then joining the leadership team as Clinical Manager in 2010.  In 2014 she journeyed to the west coast and joined the Lifesharing team as Manager of Family Services and has remained a part of the leadership team currently serving as Director of Family Services and Donor Support. 

Mackenzie Ellis, Donor Services Specialist at Mid-America Transplant in Saint Louis, Missouri has over 10 years of Donor Services' experience. She is responsible for on-boarding new staff and focusing on developing best practices to enhance tissue authorization rates. As a subject matter expert, Mackenzie collaborates with Performance Excellence and Business Intelligence teams. Together, they have developed visual management tools to improve tissue authorization rates and are currently building advanced systems to provide real-time guidance for donation coordinators during tissue authorization conversations. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring new restaurants in the Saint Louis area.