Jill Grandas
Executive Director
Jill Grandas is an organ procurement and tissue banking industry veteran with over 30 years of experience. In her role overseeing Tennessee Donor Services, Jill leads a team of selfless, hardworking employees who are committed to saving and improving lives.
In 1985, she began her nursing career in a Neurological Intensive Care Unit and became involved in several experiences where patients became organ and tissue donors. As a result of those experiences, she joined TDS in 1987 as an Organ Recovery Coordinator and has expanded her role over the years. She served in several positions within DCI Donor Services including Director of Hospital Services, Associate Director, and Executive Director for the Tennessee location. Since 2005, Jill has also been the Corporate Executive Director for DCIDS.
Jill is a Certified Procurement Transplant Coordinator (CPTC) and a Registered Nurse (RN). An active member of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, Jill currently serves on the Standards and Accreditation Committee and Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee. She has also served on both the UNOS Membership and Professional Standards Committee and has served on the Kidney/Pancreas Committee in past years. Most recently, Jill has participated in the newly formed Tissue Policy Group (TPG).
Deana Clapper
Associate Executive Director
Deana joined Tennessee Donor Services in 2002, initially as an Organ Recovery Coordinator, and was promoted into leadership as Clinical Team Leader. In 2008, tissue recovery operations were added to the organization, providing Deana the opportunity to assist in the restructuring of the quality program. As the Director of Quality, she gained knowledge and an appreciation that continues to guide her decision-making.
As Senior Director of Clinical Services, Deana directed the organ operations within TDS. Under her leadership in that role, TDS experienced a 22% growth in organ donors and 31% growth in organs transplanted. Deana was responsible for strategic planning, budget development, and guidance with the help of four managers for a team of over 40, including organ recovery, family care, and perfusion coordinators.
Deana was recently named Associate Executive Director of TDS. In that position, her oversight will expand to all areas of the TDS donor program.
Deana earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Lipscomb University and a Master’s of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University. She was introduced to the organ donation process while working as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner for the Department of Trauma Surgical Services at Vanderbilt Medical Center. She has been an active member of multiple AOPO committees and councils over the years and looks forward to continuing her involvement throughout the industry.
Lee Nolen
Director of Clinical Services
Lee and his team of clinical managers oversee a group of 45 plus employees, including organ recovery, family care, and perfusion coordinators.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Union University in Jackson, TN. Lee has been interested in the organ donation process since his first encounter with Tennessee Donor Services as a Surgical ICU nurse at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, TN. After working as a travel nurse and living in Boston for 4 years, he moved back to Tennessee and joined TDS as an Organ Recovery Coordinator. In September 2016, Lee became a clinical manager and was named the Director of Clinical Services in October 2020.
Lee is a Registered Nurse (RN) and Certified Procurement Transplant Coordinator (CPTC). He was a member of the 2017 inaugural class of ‘The Art and Science of Leadership: Driving Results for Donation and Transplantation Professionals” offered through the Gift of Life Institute. Lee looks forward to his future with TDS and his future involvement with committees and councils throughout this ever-changing industry.
Emily McKinley
Director of External Affairs & Business Development
Emily is excited to lead the external affairs team at Tennessee Donor Services as they engage Tennesseans in their communities, develop strong corporate partnerships, and promote awareness and support for organ and tissue donation at local, state, and regional levels.
Emily has served in a variety of roles and in diverse industries but is most fulfilled when serving in a mission-focused and purpose-driven capacity. Among her favorite roles, Emily has had the privilege of leading the MCB Camp Pendleton Volunteer and Skills Development Program and nonprofit collective; advocating for patient- and family-centered healthcare systems, services, and reforms at Family Voices Indiana; and most recently, supporting sound conversation policy and outdoorsmanship at Tennessee Wildlife Federation.
She graduated from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and has numerous published works credited to her name.
Stephanie Cozby
Sr. Director of Quality and Compliance
Stephanie Cozby has been in organ procurement and tissue banking for nearly 20 years, with extensive experience overseeing hospital development, organ recovery, business operations, and IT staff. Over the last eight years at DCIDS, her leadership knowledge and deep understanding of healthcare and operations management has been a significant asset in developing and integrating the company’s quality and compliance systems with operations.
Stephanie started her career as a clinical operations manager in a leading non-profit organ procurement organization. Her responsibilities included overseeing the business-related activities pertaining to donation operations, from managing organ recovery coordinators to maintaining third-party relationships with key vendors.
From there she became Senior Director of Quality and Regulatory Compliance for DCI Donor Services, overseeing the organization’s internal auditing, training, and performance improvement initiatives to implement quality and operational effectiveness across the organization.
Stephanie is proficient in the regulatory standards of AOPO, UNOS, CMS, AATB, and the FDA.
Amy Bonser
Performance Improvement Director
Amy Bonser began her career over 20 years ago as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the Pediatric ICU. After her best friend received the gift of a life-saving double lung transplant in 2003, Amy refocused her career to work in organ procurement. She has held both clinical and leadership roles in the OPO industry and is professionally and personally committed to saving lives through organ and tissue donation.
Amy joined DCI Donor Services in February 2020 to develop and oversee the Business Intelligence, Performance Improvement and Death Record Review departments. These teams are committed to increasing donation and saving more lives by utilizing data to drive decision making and process improvement initiatives at DCIDS’s three Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) in Tennessee, New Mexico, and California as well as DCI’s Donor Services Tissue Bank and Sierra Donor Service’s Eye Bank.
Michael Clay
Director of Family Services
Michael Clay is the Director of Family Services at DCI Donor Services. With over a decade of experience at several high-performing OPOs across the country, he provides direct support to a committed team of compassionate family support leaders at Tennessee Donor Services, New Mexico Donor Services and Sierra Donor Services.
Prior to being named the Director at DCI Donor Services, Michael served as the Director of Family Care at Southwest Transplant Alliance, Manager of Family Support Services at Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, Manager of Family Services at Nevada Donor Network, and Family and Hospital Services Coordinator with New Mexico Donor Services.
Michael has been a frequent speaker and content contributor for several national conferences and webinars. Michael has served twice as the Chair of the Donor Family Services Council for AOPO. He is also credited as founding one of AOPO’s most popular national events, “The Authorization Summit.” Michael is a member of The Alliance faculty and has presented on several of their live, national webinars. In addition, Michael is an active member of the Association of Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation (AMAT) and American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Michael received his bachelor’s degree in health and human performance from New Mexico Highlands University, where he was also an all-conference athlete on the men’s basketball team. Michael is the founder of BYC Elite Basketball, a nonprofit youth basketball program designed to serve “at promise” youth in New Mexico, Texas, and Southern Colorado.
Dr. Marty Sellers
Organ Recovery Surgeon
Marty Sellers, MD MPH, is an organ recovery surgeon for Tennessee Donor Services. He completed a fellowship in abdominal transplantation at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His career in transplantation included a long-standing focus on optimizing the use of donated organs, including medically complex organs, for transplantation. Those efforts continue to be a focus of his work at TDS.
Joel Smith
Senior Director of Tissue Services
Joel continues to lead the organization to record-breaking tissue recovery milestones. He is most proud of the innovations and progress his team has made in streamlining procedures that reduce redundancy and increase efficiency while improving benchmarks for recovery metrics.
He began his career at Mississippi Organ Recovery Organization, then served at Donor Network West and LifeShare of Oklahoma.
As past Chair of the AOPO Tissue Council, Joel made it his mission to increase collaboration among tissue recovery organizations.
Joel is a graduate of the Art and Science of Leadership program at Wharton’s School of Business and earned a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Mississippi State University. Joel is a proud veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
