Brooke Iarkowski, MHA, is the Transplant Community Program Manager at the American Society of Transplantation (AST), where she leads national initiatives that center the voice of patients, donors, and caregivers in transplant education and advocacy. With more than a decade of experience in the field — and personal ties as both a living donor and family member of transplant recipients — Iarkowski brings remarkable authenticity and strategic vision to her work.
She was nominated for The Alliance 40 Under 40 by Joseph Hillenburg, Strategy Advisor at Transplant Families. “Brooke is the rare professional who bridges lived experience and programmatic leadership with equal strength,” Hillenburg shared. “She’s created meaningful, lasting connections between the patient community and the providers who serve them.”
At AST, Iarkowski manages the “Power2Save” campaign and the Living Donor Circle of Excellence, an award-winning program that recognizes companies supporting employee living donation through progressive leave policies. These efforts have elevated public awareness and helped shape national conversations about donor support and health equity. Her leadership also extends to the Transplant Community Advisory Council, where she facilitates engagement between transplant recipients and the broader AST membership.
Iarkowski’s advocacy is not limited to internal programs. She is a sought-after speaker on issues of survivorship, mental health, and patient-centered care. She has spoken on provider/patient panels at the American Transplant Congress and is slated to present at the 2025 World Transplant Congress in a session on “Quality and Value in Organ Donation and Transplantation.”
A 2018 Fellow of Lead New Jersey and a Master of Health Administration graduate, Iarkowski was also recently featured in Bonus Days Magazine, where she shared her personal journey in transplantation to inspire others. As both a transplant spouse and living donor, she approaches her work with compassion, advocacy, and insight that few can match.
Brooke Iarkowski is redefining community engagement in transplant through initiatives that are empathetic, evidence-informed, and widely influential. Her work continues to bring the patient voice into national policy and program development, ensuring that lived experience shapes the future of transplantation.