Wednesday night, Travis and I were able to spend another amazing night in the presence of members from the LifeSource family. Susan Gunderson, CEO of LifeSource, was selected as a finalist for the Health Care Executive Award presented by Minnesota Business Magazine  at the 2014 Leaders in Health Care Awards.

It was an awe inspiring experience being amongst such impressive organizations, companies, hospitals, and health care professionals that improve our health care here in Minnesota. I am proud to announce that Susan Gunderson is the WINNER of the 2014 Health Care Executive Award! Congratulations Susan! Thank you for impacting so many lives. Your passion, dedication, and love for supporting donation and transplantation shines through.

To learn a little about Susan, I have taken this information off the LifeSource website. It explains why Susan is so deserving of such a prestigious award.

Impact, Reach & Lives Touched

Susan Gunderson, CEO

The next time you see Susan Gunderson, chances are she will be talking with someone. She is regularly approached by people who recognize the blue and green pin she proudly wears on her lapel to share a story, a connection, or a word of thanks. The words on the pin – Donate Life – are a simple statement that represents a profound mission.

The Donate Life pin identifies her as someone who supports donation and transplantation. What most of the people who approach her don’t know is the depth of her story. As the CEO and founder of LifeSource, it’s a story of extraordinary leadership that has brought health, healing and hope to the Upper Midwest for twenty-five years.

Perhaps her humility is what has allowed her to stand behind the mission instead of in front of it. When your life’s work is to be the steward for donation and transplantation in the communities LifeSource serves—for families living in rural or urban areas, for families devastated by loss or families hoping for their miracle—your focus is always on the future and the potential that lies within.

Thousands of families have been brought into the circle of donation and transplantation through the care they received as donor family members and the care their loved ones received as donors. Thousands more families have been brought the joyful gift of transplantation, as the team at LifeSource serves as the steward, bringing those precious gifts from donors to recipients.

Twenty-five years ago Susan Gunderson probably couldn’t imagine that the relationships she was building and the organization she was creating would have the kind of impact that has been realized. She might have dreamed it, but today, the reality is that lives were saved and families were given hope in their darkest hours of grief.

LifeSource is the link between those who suffer loss and those who await a gift, providing legacy to one, and hope to the other. When you see Susan Gunderson, deep in conversation with someone she just met, odds are that person has been touched by the legacy of donation, or the hope of transplantation.

Don’t worry about telling her your story, too–she loves to hear them all. Impact, reach and depth of lives touched: that’s just what she’s aiming for.