Champions for Donation

Champions for Donation are individuals and organizations undertaking exceptional efforts to advance organ and tissue donation and transplantation through direct professional work or advocacy on behalf of the mission of Indiana Donor Network. Their continued dedication to saving and healing lives is truly outstanding. We are excited to celebrate the 2025 Champions for Donation at this year’s Angel Fund Gala.

2025 Champions for Donation

Ashley Smith, Jr.

Chief Executive Officer
Jet Logistics

“Ashley” Smith, Jr. started working in the aviation industry at the age of 16. He earned his private pilot’s certificate at age 17.

After earning an associate’s degree in aviation management from Lenoir Community College and a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from East Carolina University, he worked as a flight crewmember for various companies and as chief pilot, director of operations and director of maintenance. He founded Jet Logistics in 2002, starting with one aircraft and pilot. The company has grown to 17 aircraft and more than 100 employees and agents.

JetLogistics and TxJet, a 501(c)(3) subsidiary of Indiana Donor Network, partnered in 2013 to streamline the intricacies in coordinating lifesaving flights.

Ashley champions the Indiana Donor Network mission by strengthening our relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration. As a successful pilot knowledgeable about donation and transplantation, he brings expertise that allows us to save more lives year after year.

Originally from North Carolina, Smith is active in the National Business Aviation Association and National Air Transportation Association. He also serves as treasurer on the executive board of the Commission on Accreditation for Medical Transport Systems. In 2014, he was appointed by then-North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory to the North Carolina Aviation Task Force.

Smith has also served as industry lead for the Federal Aviation Administration’s air carrier training for helicopter air ambulance action team, a member of its air carrier aircrew training working group and a member of its aviation regulatory committee.

Rhonda Berger

Mother of Donor Hero Jennifer Spurgeon and Indiana Donor Network Advocate

Rhonda Berger’s legacy of organ donation advocacy is sharing her daughter’s story and helping other families through their grief journey. Her daughter, Jennifer, was 19 when she died from injuries sustained in an apartment fire in 2009. Jennifer was a registered organ donor, a decision she made when obtaining her learner’s driver permit. Her donated organs saved the lives of three people.

A lifelong resident of northern Indiana, Berger was a registered nurse for 34 years before retiring in 2018. After her daughter died, Berger began volunteering for Indiana Donor Network and encouraging Hoosiers to be organ and tissue donors through education and advocacy. She has been a member of the organization’s advisory board since 2014 as a donor family representative and a member of the organization’s Family Council since 2016.

For the last six years, Berger has assisted with the Indiana Donor Network youth education program, speaking to middle school, high school and health career students about the importance of donation and transplantation.

In 2016, Berger received an Indianapolis Business Journal Health Care Hero Award for her volunteer efforts and was nominated for the Donate Life America Ambassador Service award in 2022. She also helped establish and implement the Donor Honor Guard program at Indiana Donor Network, traveling throughout the state to honor donor heroes at their funerals and celebrations of life. Berger has contributed more than 3,000 service hours and traveled nearly 50,000 miles throughout Indiana as an advocate and educator.

Eskenazi Health Donor Council

Eskenazi Health is a leading public healthcare system based in Indianapolis, Indiana, known for its comprehensive services and commitment to providing accessible, high-quality care. The system is recognized for its focus on public health, trauma care, mental health services and its work in underserved communities. Its Donor Council provides interdisciplinary collaboration between all healthcare providers involved in donation, ensuring all elements of the donation process run smoothly and in sync. The system also serves as a representative donor hospital for End Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Learning Collaborative (ETCLC), an initiative focused on improving kidney transplantation outcomes by fostering collaboration among healthcare providers and organizations.

Vanessa Kersey, RN, BSN, CCRN

Member of Eskenazi Health Donor Council

Vanessa Kersey is the Clinical Manager of Critical Care at Eskenazi Health.

Originally from Roachdale, Indiana, she graduated from Purdue University School of Nursing and has worked at Eskenazi for 26 years, starting as a student and progressing through roles as a bedside nurse, preceptor and shift coordinator before becoming a manager in 2007.

Kersey is deeply connected to Eskenazi’s service-based mission and culture, and ensures that is at the forefront of the Donor Council’s work. She has been a member of the council for six years and has co-chaired it with Dr. Joe Smith since 2023.

Kersey bridges the gap between the care of critically ill patients and the involvement of Indiana Donor Network by staying engaged in the process. This ensures that policy matches practice and outcomes are optimized.

Joe Smith, M.D.

Member of Eskenazi Health Donor Council

Dr. Joe Smith is section chief of critical care medicine, medical director of the medical intensive care unit and medical director of respiratory care at Eskenazi Health.

He also serves as the physician lead for Eskenazi’s donor council, saving lives with a focus on health equity through continuous quality improvement, leveraging of electronic medical records, education, teamwork and collaboration with Indiana Donor Network.

An Indianapolis native, Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Indianapolis and is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine, where he completed his internal medicine residency. He completed his chief residency at Eskenazi, which was formerly known as Wishard Hospital.

Smith also serves as an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. The American Board of Internal Medicine has certified him in internal medicine, critical care medicine and pulmonary medicine.