Operating at the Highest Standard
2025 Annual Report
Letter from our president and CEO
For nearly a decade, Indiana Donor Network has been on a significant upward trajectory in several key areas of our operations — none more important than our immense growth in lives saved per year. While our most recent successes stem from strategic decisions, embracing the latest technologies, developing efficiencies, intentional nurturing of key partnerships, and meaningful growth of our staff in both skills and people-power, above all we recognize we ultimately save lives only through the generosity of donor heroes and their families.
Since 2016, Indiana Donor Network has more than doubled the number of lives saved annually through organ recovery and transplantation and increased our annual tissue donor recoveries by more than 50%. Our outreach and education efforts have reached millions of Hoosiers in ways large and small to show the power of saying “yes,” and our family support has benefitted thousands both during and after donation.
We are privileged to serve our state and our communities, and we do so with the highest regard for patient safety and medical ethics. We are eager to continue this great work into 2026, to uphold the trust of Indiana residents and to remain among the top-performing OPOs in the country, truly operating at the highest standard.
Kellie Tremain, RN, MBA
President and CEO
Unveiling the Donor Memorial
Honoring Donor Heroes Past, Present and Future
In April, we opened the Indiana Donor Network Donor Memorial, one of the nation’s largest interactive memorials that honors those who gave the gift of life through organ and tissue donation. More than 30,000 Indiana residents who saved and healed more than 1.3 million lives by being donors are honored in the memorial’s database, with additional past and present donors being added regularly.
The contemplative space, which spans the first-floor lobby and adjoining atrium at Indiana Donor Network headquarters in Indianapolis, is an immersive experience, featuring touchscreen interactive kiosks, responsive lighting and sound, a wall of visual displays and more.
The memorial’s centerpiece is its Tree of Life, a four-story structure that represents the connection between selfless donors and the lives they saved. The Donor Heroes’ selfless gift is symbolized by the tree trunk and branches reaching to the skylights high above; each branch displays color-changing lamps that symbolize organ and tissue recipients – 83 in total – representing the number of lives that can be saved and healed by one organ and tissue donor.
The experience was shaped by more than a year of focused research and input from donor families, recipients, organ and tissue donation advocates, and peer organizations. Hours of formatting and synthesizing data from multiple locations anchor the database of the museum-quality exhibit, with unique artistry and lighting to create a truly immersive experience. In addition to contributions from Indiana Donor Network and our Foundation, generous sponsors helped make the memorial possible: Vision First, Indiana University Health, the Family and Friends of McKenzie Leichtnam and more.
The Donor Memorial welcomed its first donor families in April 2025, giving them a lasting place to reflect and celebrate their loved ones. Families continue to find meaning in the memorial, making it a place that feels accessible and personal. Many families return to the memorial for their loved one’s birthdays, anniversaries and other special moments, using the space in deeply personal ways.
Lives saved and healed
Organ Donation
Taytum Geyman and her family worked with Indiana Donor Network in 2025 to share her story and encourage organ donation in Indiana.
Normothermic Regional Perfusion
Opportunities for organ donation are rare, and the national rate of brain deaths has decreased markedly over the past year. To best honor the decisions and gifts of donor heroes — and ultimately save lives — we have embraced the latest medical science and technology. Normothermic regional perfusion, or NRP, is among the latest methods to ensure that organs remain viable for successful transplantation. It works by pumping warm, oxygenated blood, via a machine, through a donor’s organs after circulatory death but before organ recovery. In 2025, Indiana Donor Network was able to recover 56 livers using NRP that would have otherwise not been transplanted, and also was better able to improve acceptance rates of kidneys thanks to the improved oxygenation.
The NRP process and machinery are complex, and there are different logistical concerns regarding the supplies and space needed. Staff have worked with Indiana University School of Medicine cadaver donors to learn the technology, and Indiana Donor Network also led a proctoring program for IU Health transplant surgeons. Thus far, we have worked with an outside partner, Perfusion Solution Inc., to provide perfusionists, supplies and machines for NRP. We look forward to handling NRP internally in 2026, which will continue to offer greater equity to transplant centers that may not have access to this technology.
Tissue Donation
Samantha Markham worked with Indiana Donor Network in 2025 to share her story and encourage tissue donation in Indiana.
Partnerships that save and heal lives
Tissue donation lies at the heart of our mission, saving and enhancing lives across the country. As medical advancements continue to evolve, the efficiency and effectiveness of these generous gifts grow, expanding their ability to improve outcomes for tissue recipients.
The coordination of tissue donation depends on compassionate, delicate conversations with donor families, precise logistical collaboration among multiple partners, and meticulous care throughout a highly regulated recovery process. Indiana Donor Network honors tissue donor heroes by maximizing every gift with dignity, respect and clinical excellence at every step.
The transformation of these trusted gifts into lifesaving and healing therapies would not be possible without the commitment of our valued partners. Partners like Solvita play a critical role in this mission by expertly processing donated tissue into safe, high-quality grafts, ensuring that each donor’s legacy reaches patients in need and creates a lasting impact.
“Indiana Donor Network is among our most dependable, productive partners thanks to their attention to detail, strong policies and processes, and high-quality work. We value their collaboration, as it truly does maximize the gifts of tissue donation to save and enhance the lives of those in need.”
Ronda Horstman
Chief Recovery Services Officer, Solvita
Transportation
New Ambulances
Pathways for continuity of care are part of our commitment to donor heroes and their families who we serve. Though we have had our staff providing clinical care during transport in partner ambulances since 2020, in 2025, we procured and state-certified our own Indiana Donor Network ambulances, bringing an operation that was previously outsourced in-house. This change also brings the logistics in-house for improved accuracy and timeliness of the transportation process, providing a better experience for our hospital partners and families of organ donors.
Staffing and outfitting ambulances with new supplies is no small task. Since initializing this service in May, 20 EMTs and paramedics have been hired and trained, completing 163 runs through the course of the year, which also includes transporting recovered organs, medical teams and transplant surgeons to minimize ischemic time. Additionally, we are able to ensure the highest quality of service by maintaining the vehicles ourselves and performing regular critical supply checks and further education with audits and reviews.
While these ambulances look similar to others, the equipment used to care for donor heroes in transit is highly specialized. Our supply chain team collaborates with organ services staff to create “ambulance kits” with the specific supplies needed for organ donation critical care transport. These kits are monitored, stocked, restocked and ready for organ recovery teams 24/7 with a full complement of the supplies needed for safe, successful donor transport. Additionally, a third ambulance specifically used as a DCD and normothermic regional perfusion mobile unit will begin operating in 2026, able to quickly and safely assist in some of our most complex organ recoveries.
TxJet
Vision Jet Adds Efficiencies
TxJet, the organ transport and logistics subsidiary of Indiana Donor Network, added a second Cirrus Vision Jet to its dedicated fleet. This expansion reinforces our commitment to saving lives by ensuring that surgical teams and vital organs reach transplant centers efficiently and safely.
In some cases, a recovered organ is transported on an aircraft without the need for other passengers or surgical personnel, which means that a larger aircraft is not necessary. A key benefit of the Vision Jet is the reduced cost to fuel and operate compared to other common aircraft types — a cost savings that helps both OPOs and transplant centers in their missions to save lives.
“This new addition allows us to better coordinate logistics and enhance our mission-focused services, ensuring more transplant centers can benefit from our streamlined, reliable aviation support.”
STEVE JOHNSON
Chief Operating Officer
Workforce Empowerment
Modernizing Staff Education
Enabling our teams with tools to succeed
As the workforce of Indiana Donor Network grew to nearly 400 employees in 2025, our focus has shifted toward implementing enterprise-level systems that can scale with our expanding teams and evolving educational needs. Our previous learning platforms for staff, volunteers and partners could not offer the level of customization and reporting necessary. Recognizing the need for a more unified, future-ready solution, we transitioned to Litmos, a modern learning management system that would allow us to deliver an improved training experience.
This implementation was a major cross-functional effort, bringing together expertise from several departments. The new platform offers improved mobile accessibility and integrations, offline learning options and formal tracking of continuing education credits. These enhancements have improved compliance, increased engagement and given leaders improved, real-time visibility. More than a software upgrade, this project is an investment in the infrastructure that will support our mission and our people for years to come.
“By unifying our audiences and centralizing learning, Indiana Donor Network is not only improving the experience for every learner, but is also laying the groundwork for a more scalable, efficient and data-informed training ecosystem.”
Nanci Churchill
Manager, Training and Enablement
Vital Link Donation Center
Leveraging data for increased impact
The initial point of contact for organ and tissue donation in Indiana is the Vital Link Donation Center. With staff on site 24/7 to handle incoming calls, referrals and case monitoring, live data and reporting is key to maintaining a high standard of care and communication. Working with our data and analytics team, we have made significant progress on two strategic tools being developed.
VOLUME ALERT DASHBOARD
This dashboard provides real-time alerts to leadership, offering insight into current case activity and identifying when additional support may be needed. It monitors a wide range of VLDC operations and establishes thresholds for high activity within specific areas. By doing so, it not only notifies leadership of increased workload but also pinpoints exactly where assistance is required to maintain efficiency and responsiveness.
LIVE DOCUMENTATION AUDIT
This tool supports daily operations by providing real-time monitoring of core case documentation to ensure accuracy and completeness. It allows leadership to strategically oversee documentation quality across all cases, helping identify areas that require attention and maintaining consistent standards of excellence and compliance.
Preventative maintenance
Keeping clinical equipment reliable and ready
The supply chain department at Indiana Donor Network, which orders, inventories and otherwise manages all clinical supplies for the organization, hired a biomedical technician to provide in-house preventative maintenance for clinical assets. Natenael Berhane joined the organization in April 2025.
Adding this position offers our clinical departments a more streamlined experience for equipment servicing and ensures organizational compliance related to preventative maintenance scheduling. Additionally, the expertise required for this role has resulted in new, valuable insights that have been shared internally, broadening the overall knowledge of staff within multiple departments.
Healthcare partners
EDUCATING FUTURE CLINICAL PARTNERS
In ways large and small, Indiana Donor Network continued robust collaborations with hospitals and universities to educate and inspire. Two different nursing programs have participated in critical care clinical rotations at Indiana Donor Network’s Organ and Tissue Recovery Center. These student nurses have the opportunity to observe and experience first-hand the complex and compassionate care required for organ donation, helping to build appreciation and advocacy for organ and tissue donation among the next wave of Indiana healthcare workers. An added benefit is that our staff further develop their own competencies through teaching others.
Additionally, we continued our year-round efforts with hospitals to share updates, best practices and procedural education to ensure that our shared efforts in organ and tissue recovery are conducted at the highest standard of ethics, safety and patient care. In addition to routine meetings and conversations with our hospital liaisons, we saw over 900 nurses participate in Nurses Week educational activities, and we conducted presentations at new nurse orientation meetings at more than 30 hospitals.
In January, a cohort of University of Indianapolis nursing students visited Indiana Donor Network to tour the facility and learn more about organ and tissue donation and the support provided to families.
Additionally, we continued our year-round efforts with hospitals to share updates, best practices and procedural education to ensure that our shared efforts in organ and tissue recovery are conducted at the highest standard of ethics, safety and patient care. In addition to routine meetings and conversations with our hospital liaisons, we saw over 900 nurses participate in Nurses Week educational activities, and we conducted presentations at new nurse orientation meetings at more than 30 hospitals.
Donor Council Meetings
Collaboration that Saves Lives
Hospital partnerships are at the core of organ procurement, and our hospital services department works year-round to cultivate these relationships through education, inspiration and collaboration. A key component of these partnerships are donor councils, which are present at 36 hospitals across Indiana and feature multidisciplinary groups from each hospital. Donor councils serve to oversee policies, ensure ethical and legal compliance, and promote best practices around organ and tissue donation within each hospital. Additionally, donor council meetings help direct staff education, offer opportunities to review donor outcomes, and drive continuous quality improvements that strengthen donation practices.
“Donor council is a multidisciplinary group of individuals — providers, nurses, respiratory therapists, administrators and staff — who are all there to do their best to improve the process of donation.”
Joe Smith, MD
Eskenazi Health Donor Council
Donate Life wall at Ascension St. Vincent
HONORING THE GIFT OF LIFE
In September, in collaboration with Indiana Donor Network and Donate Life Indiana, Ascension St. Vincent unveiled its Donate Life Wall to honor family members of donor heroes, living donors and transplant recipients. Located just off the main lobby of the 86th St. hospital, the unveiling brought media attention to the importance of organ donation and featured emotional participation from families and professionals who have been impacted by donation and transplantation.
High-Profile Living Donation Resonates with Hoosiers
In the Donate Life Wall photo gallery above, there is a familiar face — our own VP of Business Operations, Kira Newkirk, is pictured with longtime Indiana high school basketball coach, Cliff Hawkins.
Early in 2025, Cliff was featured in news outlets statewide, publicly sharing his personal struggle with kidney failure and his need for an organ donation. Kira, who knew Coach Hawkins from her youth as a basketball player at DeKalb High School, learned about his situation and got tested to see if she was a match as a living donor.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Amplify Donation and Transplantation
A day of education and inspiration
In November, we once again hosted a successful day of education and inspiration for healthcare professionals who partner in organ and tissue donation. The annual Amplify Donation and Transplantation Summit welcomed nearly 400 nurses, respiratory therapists and others to earn continuing education credits around topics such as supporting families through the donation decision, surgical innovations, regulatory and technology updates, in-depth process explanations and more. Additionally, attendees heard directly from families of donor heroes and transplant recipients for a well-rounded and moving experience.
Supporting families
Inspired to Say "Yes"
Lisa Wells was hospitalized in southern Indiana last year after her lung function quickly declined. Counseled by hospital physicians that she would not survive, her family made the difficult decision to withdraw mechanical support. She was 69.
An avid dirt-track racing fan, the Illinois resident was inspired to sign up to be an organ and tissue donor in 2016 after an on-track accident led to the death of USAC and IndyCar driver Bryan Clauson, who saved five lives and healed many more as an organ and tissue donor. Bryan’s legacy has inspired thousands through the Driven2SaveLives program. “Shortly after that, when she renewed her driver’s license, she said, ‘If Bryan can do it, I can do it,’” said her daughter, Sam Wells.
At the hospital, Indiana Donor Network staff supported Lisa’s husband and Sam throughout their donation experience. “We had different advocates each day and different coordinators each night who genuinely helped our family during our difficult time,” Sam said. “They were kind. They answered each one of my questions with care and compassion. One of the coordinators even talked with me for an hour one night, consoling me, taking me through the process and letting me know what was ahead.”
Left to Right: Lisa, Sam and Kelly Wells
“Mom always was the hero in our story. Now she’s the hero in the stories of others.”
Inscription on the headstone of Lisa Wells’ gravesite
Indiana Donor Network helped the hospital coordinate an honor walk to honor Lisa’s life and selfless decision to be a donor. Family, friends, loved ones, Lisa’s physicians, hospital staff, Indiana Donor Network staff, and even local police officers and firefighters lined the hallways to honor Lisa’s life and pay tribute to her decision to be a donor as she was taken from her hospital room to surgery in preparation for donation.
Lisa saved two lives through organ donation and helped heal dozens of others through tissue donation. “She was the most selfless person I’ve ever known,” Sam said. “I remember after hearing that she actually became a donor thinking ‘wow, what an overwhelming sense of pride she would have had if she only knew.’”
In the months following her mother’s death, Sam has received support from Indiana Donor Network by participating in monthly grief sessions, its donor family Facebook group and by email. “The monthly grief sessions are one of my favorite things I look forward to because they are a safe space to talk to others about my mom and my feelings and I’m with people who get it,” she said. “I’m so thankful for the newfound family I never knew I would one day need but that I don’t know now how I’d cope without.”
Mothers Forever grief support group
Finding Support through Community
The death of a child is a profound and difficult time for mothers, creating emotions that few others can truly understand. The Indiana Donor Network aftercare team formed the Mothers Forever support group to bring women together to share, build community and discuss grief within a safe space of others who can truly relate.
Launched in March, participants have joined Indiana Donor Network in virtual and in-person sessions. Mothers Forever is one example of many efforts by the Indiana Donor Network aftercare services team to meaningfully connect with families of donor heroes and support them through their grief and loss.
Donor Hero Brogan (left) and Jodi Oldfather
“A mother is never supposed to lose a child, and no one close to me had ever experienced anything like this. It was just an overwhelming sense of all kinds of emotions and feelings. When the Mothers Forever group started, I was immediately bonded with other moms that have dealt with the same exact experience. We know exactly what each other is going through — I’m never embarrassed or ashamed of sharing my feelings and know I’m not alone. We help each other, we care for one another, we listen to each other, we laugh with each other and we cry with each other. Every one of us does something different to get through a day, a week, a month, an anniversary, a birthday and holidays. Talking with one another and learning how to navigate this new journey helps me realize that we are all doing this together one step at a time as we survive the unthinkable.”
Jodi Oldfather
Mother of Donor Hero Brogan Oldfather
Events for Families of Donor HEroes
Indiana Donor Network has a longstanding tradition of hosting events for the families of donor heroes, offering opportunities for remembrance and healing while honoring the choices of many to give the gift of life. As these events have grown in popularity and attendance, we sought input from our Donor Family Council to re-envision them to best serve families.
Donor Family Picnic at the Zoo
In August, we hosted 1,500 family members of donor heroes at the Indianapolis Zoo for a day of connection and remembrance, with two large lunch sessions for opportunities to meet others and share stories about loved ones and build community. This new event was very popular, with registrations reaching capacity in less than one day and overwhelmingly positive feedback from guests who enjoyed the programming and location.
Donor Memorial Weekend
The opening of our new Donor Memorial took place in April, appropriately timed for Donate Life Month. Over the course of one weekend, 480 family members of donor heroes from 2023 and 2024 visited the memorial to honor their loved ones with our aftercare services team on site to offer support resources. Additionally, Memorial open hours have been offered throughout the year, and many families also request visits for anniversaries, birthdays or other special occasions to remember and honor their loved ones.
Dia de Los Muertos
In late October we were able to host a special event for our donor families who celebrate Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. This celebration rooted in Mexican and broader Mesoamerican cultures blended cultural traditions with the mission of donation, honoring loved ones who have died through colorful altars, music and other programming. Guests left items such as photos, candles, favorite foods and more on an ofrenda, a temporary altar to honor and remember those who have died.
Indiana Donor Network Foundation
Engaging Events and Meaningful impact
Fundraising Supports Transplant Recipients and Families of Donor Heroes
Annually, Indiana Donor Network Foundation utilizes its contributions in multiple ways. Patients waiting for a lifesaving transplant can receive support for travel costs related to treatment and medical appointments, and transplant recipients can offset some of the costs of their anti-rejection medications with help from the Foundation. Families involved in the donation process as they say their final goodbyes in the Indiana Donor Network Organ and Tissue Recovery Center can be reimbursed for travel and meal expenses.
One of the Foundation’s most notable initiatives is Donor Hero Camp, which offers children a unique outdoor retreat to build relationships with other kids who have had a similar experience of the death and organ or tissue donation of a loved one. The camp provides a safe space to explore grief and honor legacies while offering the fun and camaraderie of summer camp.
Public Events
Our annual black-tie event inspired more than 200 guests and raised over $78,000 for the Angel Fund through tickets, table sponsorships, a silent auction, mystery gifts and other donations.
Each May, our golf outing brings over 140 supporters of our Foundation to the links for a day of fun and inspiration. Fore Life Open raised $71,900 in 2025.
We hosted more than 250 Foundation contributors and their pups at Dillon Park in Noblesville for our annual Strut, which raised more than $19,000 for the Bryan Clauson Legacy Fund.
700 participants joined us on the canal in downtown Indy to walk in support of organ and tissue donation. Registrations and team fundraising resulted in $42,900 for the Foundation.
Notable Contributions
Indiana Donor Network Foundation exists thanks to the generosity of many individual and corporate contributors who engage with us at marquee events and throughout the entire year. We are immensely grateful for the support the Foundation receives, including two significant contributions in 2025.
Fraternal Order of Eagles Auxiliary Supports Donor Hero Camp
Rohrman Automotive Group and Rohrman Family Funding Grief Baskets
Foundation in Action: Scholarship Fund
Since 2005, the Foundation has awarded educational scholarships to family members of Indiana residents who are organ and tissue donors, living donors, transplant recipients or people waiting for lifesaving transplants. In 2025, the Foundation awarded $25,000 in scholarships to seven recipients. Lainey Akins, of Fishers, received $7,000 to assist her pursuits in neuroscience and medicine at IU Bloomington.
When Lainey’s mother, Rinda, died in February, the family was devastated but also inspired. That’s because Rinda made the decision to be an organ and tissue donor. While organ donation wasn’t possible, her skin helped heal several people and her corneas went to critical research.
“Her donation was a gift for her recipients and a gift to our family. It gave us peace knowing her kindness would continue to impact others,” Lainey said. “Losing my mom opened my eyes to the importance of spreading awareness about organ and tissue donation. It’s not something people always think about. But organ and tissue donation are lifechanging.”
Lainey Akins holds her scholarship award with her father and sisters at her graduation party.
Foundation in Action: Bryan Clauson Legacy Fund
Another meaningful way the Foundation supports families of donor heroes is through the Bryan Clauson Legacy Fund. While families are focused on their final moments with their loved ones, the BC Legacy Fund makes it possible for families to have financial assistance through their darkest days by providing needed hotels, meals and transportation.
During 2025, over 60 families were served through BC Legacy Fund resources. This includes over 50 hotel nights and over 20 days of meals and transportation assistance for families.
Additionally, in 2025 more than 30 families utilized the Bryan Clauson Legacy Suite, a family-friendly space adjacent to the ICU in the Indiana Donor Network Organ and Tissue Recovery Center. This space offers added comfort and amenities for families to say their final goodbyes.
External engagement
Volunteer Advocates
Giving their time to further lifesaving donation
The outreach and community connections that Indiana Donor Network achieves would not be possible without the year-round engagement of nearly 300 advocates. These trained volunteers, who nearly all have a personal connection to donation, assist the organization through community and classroom presentations, tabling at events, administrative support, packaging family grief kits, creating comfort shawls through our Threads of Compassion program, and more.
Advocates set a record in 2025 with 19,194 service hours, including a record high month in April of 1,941 hours.
One such volunteer is LuAnn Mason, who was a heart transplant recipient in 2016 and has been an advocate since 2019. As an advocate, LuAnn helps at events to educate different groups about the importance of donation and transplantation, and she has shared her story with multiple audiences about her journey before and after transplant.
“I promote the gift of life, build friendships, and share the importance of donation and transplantation with others — because after all, I am living proof that organ donation saves and improves lives for those who are struggling to live. It is a vital message for me to share with others.”
LuAnn Mason
Volunteer Advocate
Informing and Educating the public
Community Outreach throughout Indiana
Community Outreach Coordinator Matt Shirk speaks at the Baxter YMCA in Indianapolis about organ and tissue donation.
In addition to in-person outreach through events and presentations, Indiana Donor Network and Donate Life Indiana intentionally increased information on and visibility of webpages that provide detail about the donation process so Hoosiers can confidently understand what it means to say “yes.”
We also increased outreach through more traditional advertising such as TV, radio, web and streaming, as well as on platforms to reach younger audiences including TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube. These combined efforts achieved tens of millions of impressions to inspire, educate and debunk myths about donation.
"Driven to Save Lives" documentary
Streaming nationally and inspiring viewers
Indiana Donor Network created a first-of-its-kind feature-length documentary about families whose lives were forever changed by organ and tissue donation. The documentary, “Driven to Save Lives,” premiered at the Heartland Film Festival in 2024, but still needed to find a home for streaming and viewing as we entered 2025.
“Driven to Save Lives” shares the heartfelt stories of four Hoosier families in the motorsports community while simultaneously showing the establishment and evolution of the Driven2SaveLives program of Indiana Donor Network. Through their experiences of loss, hope, and healing, the film demonstrates the life-changing impact of saying “yes” to organ and tissue donation.
As of November, “Driven to Save Lives” can be streamed for free on Tubi or purchased or rented on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Google Play. Promotion of the film has taken place at the National Donate Life America conference, online through social media and through hundreds of news outlets via press release.
Tyrese Haliburton campaign
a prominent voice with an impactful reach
Indiana Donor Network has the privilege of working with perhaps our most noteworthy spokesperson to date — the Indiana Pacers’ all-NBA star, Tyrese Haliburton. Launching the campaign in November 2025, “Hali” and his message to say “yes” to organ and tissue donation have already reached millions of Hoosiers. Moving into 2026, we are excited to continue working with partners, advocates and community leaders to inspire the lifesaving choice of organ and tissue donation.
