Thomas Mone
Board President
Chief External Affairs Officer, OneLegacy
Vice President, OneLegacy Foundation
A Donate Life California board member, Thomas Mone has led OneLegacy, the largest organ recovery agency in the U.S., since 2000. OneLegacy, serving the greater Los Angeles area, annually recovers more than 550 organ donors, enables over 1,600 organ transplants, and 250,000 tissue transplants from 3,000 tissue donors…doubling organ donation and tripling tissue donation in the region. Mr. Mone is past president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO); creator of the first electronic organ offer system that is now an international standard; a founder of AOPO’s Multicultural Council; a former director of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS); and chairman of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float.
Previously, Mr. Mone was president and CEO of the San Gabriel Valley Medical Center. Mr. Mone began his career as a presidential management intern and a budget analyst for the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is a previous board president of the Visiting Nurses Association of Pasadena, the Hospice of Pasadena, and the Asian Youth Center.
Mr. Mone received his Master of Science degree from the University of California, Irvine and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Mr. Mone is the Board Chair of Donate Life California, the state of California authorized deceased donor registry that is the world’s largest with 16.8 million registered organ, eye, and tissue donors.
Janice Whaley
Chief Executive Officer, Donor Network West
Janice Whaley serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Donor Network West in San Ramon, CA, the second largest OPO in the United States. Since her arrival, the organization has moved well above the national average in recovery metrics.
Prior to joining Donor Network West, Whaley held leadership and clinical roles in three other OPOs. Whaley served as Chief Operating Officer of LifeShare of Oklahoma. Whaley held the role of Managing Director of Clinical Operations at LifeGift in Houston, TX. Whaley started her career in organ and tissue recovery at the University of Alabama. Whaley is dually certified in organ and tissue recovery through ABTC and the AATB.
Whaley serves on several national boards and committees related to organ and tissue donation and recovery. She was recently appointed as a member of the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ Advisory Council on Transplantation. Whaley is an elected officer on the Board of Directors of the Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation and a past-president. Whaley is a member of the North American Association of Transplant Coordinators, the American Society of Transplantation, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Association of Tissue Banking. She was appointed by the Health Resources and Services Administration to serve as a faculty member for the National Learning Congress in 2012. Whaley served as the Representative for OPTN/UNOS Region 4 OPO Committee (2015 -2017).
Whaley received a Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a post-graduate certificate from Harvard Business School. She graduated from Oakwood College with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Chemistry.
Sean Van Slyck
Executive Director, Sierra Donor Services
Sean Van Slyck is the Executive Director for Sierra Donor Services, having joined the organization in November 2019. Sean brings extensive experience in the organ and tissue donation community with over 20 years in the field. Prior to joining Sierra Donor Services, Sean served as the Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer at Donor Network West. Prior to joining DNW in 2000, Sean held successful positions at the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and LifeNet Health.
In addition to serving on the Donate Life California Board of Directors, Sean has served the broader donation community with numerous appointments on national committees and initiatives including AOPO, NATCO and UNOS where he served on the Kidney Committee, Policy Oversight Committee and on the Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO) Committee where he served in the role of Committee Chair. Sean was also a member of the recent OPTN/UNOS Ad Hoc Systems Performance Committee where he and his colleagues focused on highlighting effective collaborative initiatives known to increase donation.
Sean obtained his Master’s in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco, attended the Art and Science of Leadership: Driving Results for Donation and Transplantation Professionals program, hosted by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Gift of Life Institute and also attended the ASTS Leadership In Excellence program.
Prasad Garimella
Chief Executive Officer, OneLegacy
Prasad Garimella has been in the organ, eye and tissue industry for more than 15 years. He is the COO and CIO of OneLegacy, a federally-designated organ procurement organization (OPO) serving 201 hospitals, 11 transplant centers and a diverse population of 19.5 million in the seven counties of the greater Los Angeles area.
Prior to coming to OneLegacy, Mr. Garimella was the director of donor services for Tissue Banks International, a nonprofit, non-governmental network of eye and tissue banks, overseeing their programs in the Northern California Transplant Bank, Orange County Eye and Tissue Bank, and New Mexico Lions Eye Bank. He also served as executive director for Doheny Eye and Tissue Transplant Bank.
Mr. Garimella is a physician. He attended Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute and finished his internship at the University Hospital – Siddhartha Medical College in India.
Jeffrey Trageser
Executive Director, Lifesharing
Mr. Trageser previously served as the Director of Organ Operations and has worked for Lifesharing for nearly 2 decades. He previously worked as a critical care registered nurse in a level-1 trauma center and has been working in the healthcare industry in San Diego for over 30 years. Jeff has served as chair on UNOS and AOPO committees and has authored or co-authored several manuscripts on organ donation in peer-reviewed publications.
Mr. Trageser earned his Masters of Science in Nursing Leadership, as well as his Bachelors of Science in Nursing from San Diego State University.
Michael Coleman
External Affairs Director, Sierra Donor Services
Michael Coleman is Sierra Donor Services’ Director of External Affairs, having joined the organization in early 2024. He is a serial extrovert who brings over 30 years of experience in communications, content creation (on broadcast, print, and digital platforms), fund development, public relations, and project management to SDS. Michael leads the team that is laser focused on increasing the number of registered organ, tissue, and eye donors in SDS’ service area, and ultimately eliminating the organ transplant list, via community engagement. Michael also serves on Donate Life California’s Board of Directors.
Michael has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with High Honors and Distinction from the University of Michigan. He consults with and supports the work of non-profits in northern California and across the country. He is also an OG: an Original Girl Dad, the proud father of two beautiful, brilliant adult daughters.
Aninda Dutta
Vice President of Business Intelligence and Data Solutions, Strategy Officer, Donor Network West
Aninda has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of Data and Information Systems and over 15 years’ experience in leadership roles across the healthcare domain. Aninda came to Donor Network West in 2018 as an experienced leader with a demonstrated history in healthcare data analytics and a proven track record of driving business efficiency and profitability by leveraging experience and expertise in Information Systems and leadership.
Prior to joining Donor Network West, he served as the head of Information Systems at a large health insurance organization. There he worked to successfully navigate the major disruptions in the health insurance industry because of the Affordable Care Act and other electronic transformations. At Donor Network West, he oversees Data and Strategy which includes Data analytics, Reporting, Automation, Data integration and Business operation and strategic growth. Since joining Donor Network West, his work on data and strategy has helped the organization substantially increase organ procurement and placement performance resulting in saving hundreds of more lives. He is also helping Donor Network West as well as the overall organ procurement industry with his work on advocating for policies and performance metrics improvement to better serve our communities.
Aninda holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics Engineering and a Master’s degree in Computer Science.
Samantha Blaz
Treasurer
Director of Donor Development & Strategic Partnerships, Lifesharing
Samantha Blaz is the director of donor development and strategic partnerships at Lifesharing, the not-for-profit, federally-designated organ recovery agency for San Diego and Imperial Counties. She leads a team of professionals who serve the many hospitals, hospices, skilled-nursing facilities and funeral homes in the community by providing donation education and resources so that everyone has an opportunity to save and enhance lives through the precious gift of organ and tissue donation.
Ms. Blaz began her donation career 20 years ago in St. Louis at Mid-America Transplant Services. There she was responsible for volunteer liaison, community outreach and serving as a member of the Illinois Secretary of State Donation Task force. In addition to serving on the Donate Life California board of directors, Ms. Blaz also serves on the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations’ (AOPO) Hospital Development Council as Vice-Chair. Ms. Blaz is also a Persian Gulf War Veteran having proudly served in the United States Air Force.
Ms. Blaz received her Master of Advanced Study degree in Leadership of Healthcare Organizations from the University of California, San Diego and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Louis University.
Jim Martin
Chief Executive Officer
Donate Life California
Jim Martin joined Donate Life California in 2017 as the chief executive officer. Mr. Martin brings a background in advocacy work, building community partnerships, fiscal planning, and project management.
Prior to taking this position, Mr. Martin served as the executive director of Martins’ Achievement Place in Sacramento, a residential treatment program for at-risk foster boys. Mr. Martin worked at Martins’ Achievement Place for 30 years in a variety of positions including assistant executive director before serving as executive director beginning in 2007.
Mr. Martin’s focus at Donate Life California is developing and implementing a strategic plan to build statewide advocacy with the ultimate goal of increasing the numbers of the Californian’s registering as organ, eye and tissue donors.
Mr. Martin holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from California State University of Sacramento.
