diversity – Midwest Transplant Network

An Air Force pilot sitting in the cockpit of a military aircraft.

MTN Staff Spotlight – Kelly Timmermann

March 27, 2024/in Blog, Employee Spotlight/by Midwest Transplant Network

Kelly Timmermann can fly. She’s a Corporate Pilot PIC I for Midwest Transplant Network. Her career began as an Air Force pilot and she retired as Lt. Col. Timmermann in late 2023.

March is Women’s History Month, designated by presidential proclamation in 1980. Now, Women’s History Month is an annual observance to highlight the achievements, contributions, influence and impact of women.

Midwest Transplant Network recognizes and celebrates the diversity of our staff. We appreciate sharing the stories of staff who represent different experiences that positively impact our culture and mission.

Kelly Timmermann, Corporate Pilot PIC I

Kelly Timmermann can fly. From the Air Force to Midwest Transplant Network, her career as a pilot has taken her around the world and across the country. In late 2023, Lt. Col. Timmermann retired from the Air Force after 23 years as a pilot, having experienced 13 deployments and 1,940 combat hours. She joined MTN in 2022 as a Corporate Pilot PIC I, responsible for transporting teams to cases in the mission of saving and enhancing lives through organ, eye and tissue donation.

In 50 words or less, explain your job in the Air Force like you’re talking to someone without a military background.

I began my Air Force journey as an intelligence analyst. After two years, I switched my career path to become a pilot. I primarily flew an air refueling airplane, the KC-135. But I also had the opportunity to fly distinguished passengers in the Gulfstream IV and Gulfstream V aircraft, with many leadership roles along the way.

What influence did female mentors, role models or colleagues have on your military service, education or life in general?

Most of my superiors, mentors and colleagues were men. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities and leadership over the years. But you asked about women, and my very best friendships have been amazing women – family, Air Force friends, and high school friends. I’ve had a solid support network, sounding board, and sometimes a good kick in the pants (when warranted) from my ladies. Having someone invest in your success whole-heartedly is validating and empowering. I owe my success to those who believed in me.

March is Women’s History Month. What does it mean to you to have had a successful career as a pilot in the Air Force?

I am proud that I was able to choose a path in the Air Force that allowed me both professional and personal progression. Professionals of all backgrounds face difficult decisions to balance family and work-life. Women have the added consideration of bearing children. Choosing to be an Air Force pilot was one of the biggest decisions of my life. I knew it would mean frequent travel and moving, and I knew it was possible I would do it alone. It’s tough to meet people when you’re not in a place that’s home. I’m a little amazed and grateful that I was able to navigate a career, have a family and meet my goals as a pilot, but I did it!

What motivated you to become a pilot? What kept you motivated?

I didn’t consider a pilot career until I was in the Air Force. I knew it was a marketable skill and I was fascinated to find a professional path that would give me an office in an airplane! I’ve always been aware of long-term stability and choosing a job was another item for consideration. There is a huge need for pilots, and that equates to long-term stability. As for motivation, that’s the only way I know how to do things…to be motivated.

Where’d you train to become a pilot?

I trained for my private pilot’s license at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. My Air Force Undergraduate Pilot training was at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas.

What’s your advice to women who want to pursue aviation?

Make it happen. If you are willing to work for it, it is achievable!

If your career imitated a movie, which movie would it be?

I couldn’t find one about determination and persistence without a heartbreaking tragedy to overcome. Haha!

If you hadn’t become a pilot, what would you have done for your career?

I do not know! I narrowed it down to psychology and counseling but was also interested in the medical field. See? Varied interests make it tough to decide, so why not fly?

A mother and two children gather around a cake with a sparkling candle.

Kelly Timmermann and her children are smiling in excitement at a sparkling candle in the center of a small cake.

Now that you’ve retired from the Air Force, do you have a retirement bucket list? What’s one thing you’d share from your list?

My husband is still in the Air Force, so we will make a bucket list when it is his time to retire. However, the short-term benefit is I only have one job, instead of a second job with the Air Force Reserve, and I spend the extra time with my two awesome kiddos.

From your perspective, how does your role at Midwest Transplant Network impact organ donation and transplantation?

We give MTN the ability to have someone spend an hour of travel instead of four hours of travel at the beginning and the end of a 24-hour shift. This is essential! I feel directly connected to perpetuating this awesome mission because the airplane helps lower attrition. Additionally, being able to take a team to an OR and then bring them home cuts a lot of stress and work from logistics planning. I know our staff are appreciative when the airplane is available to relieve the burden of travel and we are happy to be part of the mission.

What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about organ donation?

I was not familiar with organ donation at all, except that you’re asked the question at the DMV about becoming an organ donor. Learning about the process has helped me to stress to my family and friends how important it is to make your decision known for organ donation. It makes a difference and alleviates family stress when the worst happens.

Where are you from?

Salisbury, Missouri.

It’s March Madness! You’re hosting a Women’s Final Four Championship party. What snacks are you serving?

I’m serving hot wings, guac and chips, pizza, and everybody brings a favorite. Sharing is caring!

Kelly Timmermann poses in front of a U.S. Air Force plane.

A woman wearing a black ball cap that reads Afghanistan Veteran.

Lt. Col. Kelly Timmermann retired from the U.S. Air Force after a 23-year career as a pilot.

MTN Spotlight – Barb Sheble, Ambassador

August 30, 2023/in Blog/by Midwest Transplant Network

August is National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month, a collaborative initiative to save and improve the quality of life of diverse communities by creating a positive culture for organ, eye and tissue donation.

Midwest Transplant Network will recognize and support National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month with a series of original content featuring community partners, staff and volunteer Ambassadors who represent diversity and the mission to give hope and share life. We hope you enjoy the perspectives of our friends!

MTN Spotlight…Barb Sheble

In college, Barb Sheble passed out during track practice. A few months later, she got sick and passed out again. She was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition. That was in 1991.

In the mid- ‘90s, doctors said a transplant would be in her future.

“In the ’90s, you didn’t hear as much about organ donation,” said Sheble. “My only knowledge about organ donation was that a friend’s brother signed up to be a donor on his license. He died in a car accident and his organs were donated.”

Sheble said she “lived with the condition for 18 years” before being placed on the transplant waitlist in January 2009. She received a heart the same year.

Sheble, whose heritage is Citizen Potawatomi Nation, is an MTN Ambassador who’s volunteered since 2013. As a kid, she wanted to be a marine biologist; as an adult, she’s a medical lab scientist. The favorite songs on her playlist are “too many to count” because music is her peace and solace; she loves to rest and relax in the mountains, and when it comes to roller coasters or Ferris wheels, it’s “Roller coasters all day!”

What are three ways that being a transplant recipient has changed your life besides giving you another chance?
It has given me friends that I would have never met, and now I couldn’t imagine life without them. It has helped me see life on a broader scale — that the little troubles are just bumps in the road on this journey we call life.

It has taught me that we have to live each day with a purpose and to cherish what we have. Our family, friends and our experiences with those around us are more important than any of the tangible things we think we need.

Did you have any concerns or hesitancy about being a transplant recipient? If so, what were they?
Honestly, not really. I’d been through so much over the previous 18 years that to me, it was just the next thing I needed to do to keep moving forward on my journey.

How does your Native American heritage influence your conversations about organ donation?
I’m not sure I can say it is necessarily due to my heritage, but I just always want to be an advocate. I want people to know that donation works, so I talk about it as much as I can! I am proud to be Native American, and I am proud to be a recipient. My tribal ancestors were very strong-willed people, so I feel my Native American heritage has prepared me to be successful on my transplant journey.

In what ways do you advocate for organ donation?
Any way I can! I donate time when I can. I talk about it any chance I can, and I try every day to show that through transplant, you can live a full life. You can work, travel, exercise, go on hikes…you name it. I want people to see that if there is a will, you can make your ideals for your life happen. It’s all in the attitude!

Tell us about the Transplant Games. What have you experienced?

AMAZING! That one word sums up the games. Do they always run smoothly? No. But do I ever regret going? NEVER. The games and the people I know from them are what I look forward to all year long. You will always find inspiration at the games! From meeting donor families to meeting other recipients, the competition and the sportsmanship is literally the best thing!

Sheble has participated in the Transplant Games of America and World Transplant Games since 2012 in events that include shot put; discus and the ball throw; javelin; Pétanque doubles; volleyball and pickleball doubles. She’s been to Transplant Games of America in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Houston; Cleveland; Salt Lake City and San Diego, and to World Transplant Games in South Africa, Argentina, Spain, United Kingdom and Australia.

MTN Staff Spotlight – Britney Machin

August 23, 2023/in Blog, Employee Spotlight/by Midwest Transplant Network

August is National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month, a collaborative initiative to save and improve the quality of life of diverse communities by creating a positive culture for organ, eye and tissue donation.

Midwest Transplant Network will recognize and support National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month with a series of original content featuring community partners, staff and volunteer Ambassadors who represent diversity and the mission to give hope and share life. We hope you enjoy the perspectives of our friends!

MTN Staff Spotlight…
Britney Machin, Tissue Services Shift Leader

Britney’s professional career in healthcare includes experience as a community liaison in a clinical setting. She earned a Bachelor of Science in community health with a minor in psychology from the University of Central Missouri. She will complete a master’s in business administration with an emphasis in health administration from her alma mater in May 2024. Britney joined Midwest Transplant Network in September 2020 and is coming up on her third MTN anniversary.

If you had to choose between living without air conditioning or social media, which one would you give up?

I would give up social media.

Favorite local restaurants in the metro?

Garozzo’s, Vietnam Café and Q39.

Your most memorable trip experience — good or bad?

I’m from a blended family, and I’m one of four children. When I was 10, we went to California with all of my siblings and family. We visited my maternal grandparents, went to my aunt’s 50th wedding anniversary, went to the beach, the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, Disneyland and Magic Mountain. We packed a lot into a week!

You’re talking about your job to a stranger. How do you explain what you do for a living as simply as possible?

Hmmm…I can tell someone I recover skin from donor heroes to help burn victims. Or I recover bone, skin, tissue or muscle from donor heroes to help other people live.

Tell us about your culture and how it influences your conversations about organ donation.

My culture is Chamorro. My mother is from Guam, the largest of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Chamorro culture is having respect for all people, particularly for our elders, as well as our history and language.

The way I was raised influences how I speak about organ, eye and tissue donation. It’s respect for the donor families because you’re working on their behalf.

My brother-in-law is a kidney transplant recipient of 10 years, and I have an uncle who had multiple kidney transplants. He was nearly 60 when he passed.

Growing up, I heard misconceptions about organ, eye and tissue donation, like EMS and doctors won’t try as hard if organ donation is on your driver’s license. It’s totally false.

In my family, there is support for being an organ, eye and tissue donor. And in my family — due to it directly saving and enhancing so many of our loved ones’ lives — they want to make the decision on their own. If I’m asked about organ donation, I do my best to explain the process and address any misconceptions that I can.

Even though my family is open to organ donation, it’s different when it comes to ocular tissues because when a loved one passes, they need to be able to see their way to heaven. There’s a belief about being whole in heaven and in the afterlife, so organ, eye and tissue donation is personal.

In what ways do you advocate for organ donation?

The work is a form of advocacy for donation. When a loved one passes, you want to be respectful of their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor.

Give three reasons why someone should consider becoming a registered organ donor:

Your legacy lives on through another person, and the impact on another life is honorable.
It helps with healing for loved ones because they gave selflessly, and you can be proud of their decision.
It’s very important to tell your family of your decision to be an organ donor. It’s an affirmation of your choice, and your family will not have to make that decision for you.

What else would you like to say about organ donation?

To the donor heroes, “Si Yu’os Ma’ase,” which means thank you or “May God’s grace shine upon you” in Chamorro.

Building Pathways to Trust with Black Nurses Association

August 10, 2023/in Blog/by Midwest Transplant Network

Midwest Transplant Network (MTN) hosted the Greater Kansas City Black Nurses Association (GKCBNA) during National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month for a staff lunch and learn called Pathways to Trust.

GKCBNA was founded in 1992 by Deborah Washam, RN, MSN, CCM. The organization works to educate the public about healthcare, promote public health, dispel myths and more.

Washam visited MTN to present disparities in healthcare and organ, eye and tissue donation that impact African American communities. She educated attendees about a range of donation-related myths such as distrust in medical care and fears that organs may not be viable because of co-morbidities, that Black people are “last on the list for organ transplants” and that you have to be wealthy to receive or donate a kidney.

She also informed MTN staff members that 30% of the people waiting for a lifesaving kidney transplant are Black, despite Black people making up only 13% of the U.S. population. Although organ donors and their recipients don’t have to be of the same race, Black people are more likely to have a successful match with another Black person based on certain genetic markers and antibodies.

Washam discussed pathways for building trust and changing viewpoints about donation and transplantation to include community education and outreach, listening, and sharing truths and information. MTN staff members agree that working together with Washam and GKCBNA will help promote stronger healthcare and increase the number of transplants.

Our thanks to Washam and the GKCBNA for this informative and inspiring lunch and learn conversation.

What Black History Month Means to Me

February 23, 2023/in Blog/by Brande Johnson

“We must never forget that Black history is American history. The achievements of African Americans have contributed to our nation’s greatness.” — U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York

For me, Black History Month is a time of reflection: an opportunity to embrace my culture and display my pride for the trials, the joy, the pain, the courage and the sacrifice of those who paved the way before me.

Growing up, we learned about the same Black historical figures year after year, and it was somewhat mundane. However, as an adult, I am able to dig deeper and learn all that I can about those who have left their indelible imprint that affects everyone in one way or another.

As an MTN employee, I was afforded the opportunity to shine a spotlight on an individual who contributed to medical advances. I decided to feature Dr. Jane Cooke Wright, who I never knew was such a pioneer in the advancement of chemotherapy. Learning about her expertise and innovations, which have an impact on so many, further solidified for me the continued importance of studying Black history — no, American history. Everyone could better understand the incredible contributions people of color have made to the collective American experience.

The only reason I can stand tall and accomplish my endeavors is because I stand on the backs of those who came before me. I was inspired to find out that my paternal grandfather was a humanitarian and local activist throughout the 1970s. He sought to bring about positive social change in Kansas City, Missouri, which laid a foundation that still benefits people today. That is what Black History Month affords us — the ability to gain knowledge that would otherwise not be known. That is why it should be consistently taught versus distributed in a highlight reel for twenty-eight days.

Being a Black woman is not only a joy and an honor, but it is who I am every single day. I cannot change it and, honestly, I do not have an ounce of desire to do so. There is immense pressure accompanied by underlying distress, violence and vile treatment that is bestowed upon Black people. It is terrifying; however, I wake up every morning grateful for who I am. That is quite literally Black history personified.

Q&A with MTN Advisory Board Member Doris C. Agwu

August 24, 2022/in Blog/by Midwest Transplant Network

Doris C. Agwu, MPH

There are countless individuals responsible for making MTN’s lifesaving mission possible: our hospital partners; licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue staff members; funeral home professionals and medical examiners; staff members; Board of Directors; volunteer Ambassadors; and beyond. Today, we’re excited to highlight one of our Advisory Board members, Doris C. Agwu, MPH, regarding her work in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Tell us briefly about the work you do as Assistant Dean for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UMKC School of Medicine.

In my role with senior leadership, I work with recruitment, retention, advancement, engagement, and communications and serve on our important committees and councils. It is important that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is in the framework of everything that we do because it matters in everything. So, from creating and providing DEI training to serving on selection and search committees and everything in between, I work with leadership, faculty, staff and students to ensure our strategic plan is implemented. It is important to us that we create an environment where all students can succeed, which means providing equitable resources and a sense of belonging. Additionally, this needs to be done for faculty and staff. And my office helps to do just that.

How did you come to join Midwest Transplant Network’s Board of Directors? What drew you to the organization?

I have been friends with MTN General Counsel Salama Gallimore for years. When I moved to KC a couple of years ago, she was one of the few people I knew in the area. She has always spoken so fondly about the work you all do at Midwest Transplant Network. And with my role at the school of medicine, she felt that I could bring an important perspective to the board. I researched the organization and was truly impressed and humbled by the beautiful work you all do here and incredibly moved by all the lives you’ve positively impacted. I knew this was the type of board I wanted to join.

August is a time when people in the donation and transplantation community raise awareness to save and enhance the lives of people of all races and ethnicities. (This can be recognized as National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month.) Why is it important to you to celebrate and educate people on the importance of diversity in donation?

I think education on this is important because there is a lot of misinformation out there. Additionally, there are a lot of people who don’t have access to healthcare or have negative experiences regarding healthcare due to marginalization. I think education on the importance of diversity in donation can help shape minds and create a safer environment for learning about donation. In this world, marginalized individuals understandably can have trust issues with a lot of systems, including systems involved in donation and transplantation, so educating people can help lead to enhanced self-advocacy and understanding.

Have you or any of your loved ones been impacted by organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation? If so, how?

Yes, I have a friend who had been waiting to receive a kidney transplant for years, and when she finally received one, it changed her whole life. She was always a positive and joyful person, but after receiving her kidney, there was a certain type of joy that illuminated from her that probably was rooted in a sense of relief and freedom. Health complications can be very scary for everyone involved, so when a loved one gets exactly what they need to make them healthier, you’re forever grateful.

What would you say to someone who is on the fence about joining the organ, eye and tissue donor registry?

Being a scientist at heart, I don’t believe there is anything I would say, but there are various questions I would ask. I’d ask if they would be willing to share why they are on the fence, what reasons are holding them back, and then I would be able to chat with them effectively and honestly about their concerns.

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