Joseph Z. Kowalsky, JD

Mr. Kowalsky is the Founder, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and the President of Organs for Life. Mr. Kowalsky has spent his adult life working to make the world a better place and WOULD LOVE YOUR HELP! During High School, he worked on a national campaign to reduce drunk driving and to ensure strong punishment of offenders. Mr. Kowalsky has a B.A. in Economics, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. After a short stint in business he decided fairly last minute to go to law school (after scoring in the top 2/3 of 1% in the country on the Law School entrance exam). He missed Harvard's and Yale's deadlines (though he was wait-listed at Yale) but fortunately not that of the University of Michigan Law School where he then earned his J.D. He clerked at the Federal Trade Commission and, during and after law school, worked for US Senator Carl Levin. He then founded and ran a wholistic sliding-scale-fee legal clinic, Tomorrow, Inc., for nearly a decade, with the goal of helping those willing to put in the effort (to the extent that they were able) to help themselves. Throughout the years (before and after working for the Senator) he volunteered on various state and federal election campaigns, for honest candidates on both sides of the aisle, and several years ago served on a Presidential Transition Team as part of the "most highly educated clerical staff in the country" as well as volunteering in the 1990s with the Concord Coalition, a bi-partisan group that proposed recommendations, and lobbied, for reduction of the federal deficit. For fun he volunteered clearing mountain-walking-trails and installing outhouses in a National Park in New Zealand, worked on a farm in Australia and for many years was the volunteer MC and cleanup assistant at a 1920's era non-profit movie theater. In 2010 he founded Joseph Kowalsky, JD, Financial Planning (his "day job") which he still heads. In 2013 he founded, and has run as a volunteer, what is now known as Organs for Life, as he had little to do between 2 and 4 AM anyway. Mr. Kowalsky has spoken at venues around the country and in Europe and has been interviewed about his volunteer work in the science/medical research world by media on 4 continents. Mr. Kowalsky's assistant describes him as a friendly tornado.

For more about Mr. Kowalsky and his decision to launch Organs for Life, please see these interviews:

• Saving Lives by Advancing Organ Transplants is This Advisor's Passion
• Being That One Person: How Hope Inspires Joseph Kowalsky

Eric Magro

Eric is a Director and the Secretary of Organs for Life. Eric Magro serves on the Board of Directors for Organs for Life, where he helps guide the organization's mission to advance research into extending organ viability for transplant purposes. With a degree in biomedical engineering, Eric brings both technical knowledge and strategic leadership to the critical challenge of organ preservation. His background spans organizational operations, policy advocacy, and fostering collaboration within the life sciences community. Through his work with Organs for Life, Eric is committed to supporting innovative research that could dramatically improve transplant outcomes and save more lives. He believes that advancing organ preservation technologies represents one of the most impactful ways to address the urgent need for viable organs and give hope to the thousands of patients waiting for life-saving transplants.

Livan Torres

Livan Torres is the Treasurer of Organs for Life. Livan makes sure every dollar given to the organization is used carefully and transparently, so that resources go to directly support the mission of the organization. As a Software Engineer in previous positions and as an Operations Data Officer at Resurgence Biomedical Sciences, Livan has spent years building the systems — digital infrastructure, operation automations — that keep organizations focused and efficient on their operations. Livan brings that same care and attention to detail to managing Organs for Life's budget and reporting. He is committed to keeping the organization's finances open, honest, and fully aligned with the mission of making organ transplants safer, less costly, and more available.