Sonja Barlow is the Director of Training and Development at Life Connection of Ohio, involved in donation operations for over 7 years. With a background in microbiology research, her time spent in eye and tissue banking has included emphasis on increasing suitability, changing philosophy for family conversations, and building training workshops. She holds a BS degree in Microbiology from the University of Texas at El Paso and previously managed Donation Services for Nevada Donor Network in Las Vegas, Nevada and Donor Operations for SightLife in Seattle, WA.

Joi Surgeon accidentally started her career in Organ and Tissue donation in 2004 at LifeNet Health, working primarily as a Musculoskeletal Processing Technician, due to her educational background in Physical Therapy and Kinesiology. In 2009 she joined Nevada Donor Network in Family Services, approaching for Organ, Tissue, and Ocular donation. With organizational growth and restructuring, in 2015, she helped build the Donation Services department at NDN as the lead coordinator and trainer. Joi is currently the Manager of Donation Services and celebrated her ten-year anniversary from the date of her cornea transplant in August 2020.