Rick Kolovich is an Army Veteran with forty years of leadership experience in organ, eye, and tissue donation. He was the former Director of the Army/Navy Transplant Program and held clinical leadership positions at the Washington Regional Transplant Consortium, Oklahoma's Organ Sharing Network, and the Living Legacy Foundation. 

Rick earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Nursing from Kent State University and is also a certified clinical transplant coordinator, tissue banking specialist and received his certificate in the “Art of Leadership for Transplant Professionals” from the Wharton and Fox Schools of Business in 2018.  

Rick is currently the Director of Tissue at the newly merged OPO (Infinite Legacy), formally, (the Washington Regional Transplant Community and the Living Legacy Foundation). 

Dr. Slawski is from Gift of Hope in Itasca, Illinois. He is a Clinical Trainer at The Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network. He has over 18 years of experience within the organization encompassing tissue recovery, quality assurance, and training. Most recently in 2014, Gregory joined the newly instituted Research & Development Department within Gift of Hope. Gregory received his doctorate from Scholl College of Podiatric medicine in Chicago and his bachelor's degree in biology from Loyola University in Chicago.

Emmitt serves as Manager of Tissue Recovery and Research Training at LifeGift Organ Donation Center, providing leadership, training, and evaluation of tissue recovery for implantation and tissue for research. Emmitt also serves his colleagues by designing educational and training curricula and courses to increase staff competency and retention for the critical work performed.

Emmitt is passionate about leadership, training, developing individuals and teams, and helping advance the programs in which they work to achieve goals. Emmitt obtained his CTBS in 2013 and has continued to progress upward positionally to his current role while learning leadership, process development, and improvement strategies.

Before launching a career in tissue donation, Emmitt studied at the University of Houston toward a Bachelor of Science in Biology and minored in Health, where his value of science and healthcare has driven him to excel and contribute in the way he is doing so today.

I have been with NEDS for the past 9 years. I began my career as a Tissue Donation Coordinator in 2013, then promoted to manager 3 years later. Prior to beginning my career at NEDS, I was in Law Enforcement for 14 years. In my time at NEDS, I have presented at national meetings and am currently on the RADE council. I have also been lucky to be a member of our NEDS Social Equity team. Our team has been tasked with developing a work plan for NEDS that identifies outward-facing actions that work towards eliminating persistent racial disparities in the communities served by NEDS.

Dwayne is the Tissue Operations Manager and works with KODA’s Chief Clinical Officer to oversee the clinical operations of KODA’s tissue recovery team.  Dwayne began his career at KODA in 2003 as a Hospital Services Coordinator working with organ donors, where he worked for 12 years.  In 2015 he transitioned into the role of Tissue Services Supervisor and was promoted to his current role in January 2016.  Dwayne has served as the UNOS Region 11 OPO Committee Representative from 2015-2017.  Dwayne holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Georgetown College and an Associates Degree in Nursing from Jefferson Community College.  Dwayne is married with two daughters and is a very enthusiastic University of Kentucky fan.