FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Jenny Daigle
EMAIL: jdaigle@aopo.org
AOPO Names 2022-2023 President and Executive Committee Members
McLean, VA. (June 2, 2022) – The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) announced today their new President and newly elected members of the Executive Committee, whose terms will take effect June 14, 2022. Executive Director at LifeCenter Organ Donor Network, Barry Massa, is the incoming President of AOPO, the nonprofit organization representing federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPO) in the U.S.
Barry Massa
President of AOPO, 2022-2023
As AOPO President, Massa will be the organization’s spokesperson and chair of the Board of Directors. The focus of Massa’s term will be on collaborating as a community and with other stakeholders to increase organ donation. Much of AOPO’s effort surrounds their 50,000 Annual Organ Transplants in 2026 Campaign and its close alignment with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) “Realizing the Promise of Equity in the Organ Transplantation System” report. AOPO’s campaign is also aligned with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Learning Collaborative (ETCLC).
“I am looking forward to my tenure as AOPO’s President at this crucial time in our community,” says Massa. “We will continue to work collaboratively with OPOs and stakeholders to improve the organ donation and transplantation system. Our focus is on performance improvement to optimize every donation opportunity. AOPO is committed to saving more lives through collaborations that will reduce health inequities, maximize organ utilization, and drive innovation.”
Barry Massa has served as the Executive Director of LifeCenter Organ Donor Network in Cincinnati, Ohio since June 2008, after joining LifeCenter in February of 2004 as their Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He received a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance, and much of his previous career experience involved financial leadership roles for physician groups as well as a national bank.
Before joining LifeCenter, his friend had a daughter who needed a double lung and heart transplant which sparked his interest in joining the organization. His personal connection to the gift of organ donation has driven his passion and motivated him to help improve the system to save more lives.
LifeCenter Organ Donor Network is an OPO that coordinates the donation of human organs and tissues for transplantation, serving more than two million people and 16 counties throughout the Tri-State area. They include Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana.
AOPO named Colleen McCarthy, Vice President of Organ and Tissue Donation at Versiti Wisconsin, its President-Elect. In this role, she will lead the strategic planning process, collaborate with AOPO Committees, and advocate nationally for issues impacting donation and transplantation. Colleen will serve as the AOPO President on the 2023-2024 Executive Committee.
Colleen McCarthy
President-Elect of AOPO, 2022-2023
Colleen currently serves on the AOPO Executive Committee as the Secretary/Treasurer and OPO Population Group 1 Representative. McCarthy joined Versiti in 2010 and has worked in the field of organ and tissue donation since 2003. She has always had a passion for service and was called to organ donation over 20 years ago while working as a critical care nurse at a Level I Trauma Center in Denver, Colorado.
During this election cycle, AOPO also confirmed new Executive Committee members Tasha Flowers, Director of Finance at ARORA, as the Secretary/Treasurer, and Luke Y Shen, Medical Director at Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, as the Medial Advisor-Elect.
The full AOPO 2022-2023 Executive Committee includes:
President: Barry Massa, Executive Director, LifeCenter Organ Donor Network
President-Elect: Colleen McCarthy, Vice President of Organ and Tissue Donation, Versiti Wisconsin
Past President: Jan Finn, RN, MSN, CEO, Midwest Transplant Network
Secretary/Treasurer: Tasha Flowers, CPA, CGMA, Director of Finance, ARORA
At-Large Member: Kyle Herber, President & CEO, Live On Nebraska
Medical Advisor: Marty Sellers, MD, Organ Recovery Surgeon, Tennessee Donor Services
Medical Advisor-Elect: Luke Y Shen, Medical Director, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA)
OPO Population Group #1: TBD
OPO Population Group #2: Sarah Fewell, Chief Clinical Officer, Iowa Donor Network
OPO Population Group #3: Kurt Shutterly, COO, Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE)
OPO Population Group #4: Rick Hasz, President & CEO, Gift of Life Donor Program
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The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) is the not-for-profit trade association leading the nation’s organ donation community to save and improve lives through organ, eye, and tissue donation. Founded in 1984, AOPO advances organ donation and transplantation by driving continual improvement of the donation process, collaborating with stakeholders, and sharing successful practices with their OPO members. The vision of AOPO is to pursue the day when every donation opportunity results in lives saved. For more information, please visit www.aopo.org.