Susan Gunderson

Relentlessly Pursuing a Day Where No One Dies Waiting

When my former colleagues at the Mayo Clinic contacted me to start this organization in late 1988, there was no formal structure for organ donation, just the need to make transplantation more successful. Less than a year later, LifeSource was fully operational. To this day, I approach our work with the same sense of urgency, asking: “How can we do this better? Faster? More cost-effectively?”

Prior to founding LifeSource, I began my career as a nurse, but I quickly developed an interest in organizational leadership. I went on to earn a graduate degree in health care administration and became the first administrative fellow at the Mayo Clinic.

Each day, 17 people in the United States die waiting for an organ transplant. This shortage problem isn’t only an Upper Midwest or United States problem, it’s pervasive worldwide. I devote time and energy establishing global partnerships to innovate and solve it. My national and international experience includes faculty appointment with the University of Barcelona, Transplant Procurement Management (TPM) advanced international training course on transplant coordination, co-director of the Global Leadership Symposium and serving as President, International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement.

My life’s work is as a steward for donation and transplantation—for families devastated by loss or families hoping for their miracle. My focus is always on the future and the potential that lies within. People’s lives are at stake and legacies hang in the balance.