Susan Mau Larson

Yeah, thank you, Clarence.

And as you said, we've known each other over two centuries, and it's truly been one of the honors of my career to be your friend and your colleague.

So we started really at LifeSource over 20 years ago talking about how do we make sure that we are fully an inclusive organization and that we are meeting the community where they need.

And we know that there is a lower rate of support for donation among some communities, in particular the African American and the Native American communities.

And so Clarence, you and I started talking over 20 years ago.

What can we do?

How can we fully engage?

How can we as an organization listen and support the community?

And we started...

with some federal grants, some federal support to do some engagement, to do outreach in schools and in churches.

And in particular, and I'm very proud of the work we did with the barbers in Minneapolis and the surrounding area where we were able to work directly with these community leaders, barbers, provide them information about donations so that they could provide that for their clients.

And what was really key was not only information about donation, but about health issues like

high blood pressure and kidney disease and other things that might lead to needing a transplant.

You know, at LifeSource, we're working so hard to make sure that we reach a day where no one dies waiting for a transplant.

But really, wouldn't it be great if nobody, you know, someone's always going to need, but if we could prevent some of those health conditions that lead to that need for transplant as well.

So we've been working together to really improve the health of the community.

I will also say, gosh, I'm losing track.

12 years ago, I think, LifeSource moved to North Minneapolis.

That's where our headquarters is.

And we did that very intentionally so we could open our doors and welcome the community and be very transparent about, here's who we are, here's how donation works.