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IgAN Ambassadors

Our Ambassador Team/Find an Ambassador Near You

IgA Nephropathy (IgAN) remains poorly understood. For far too many people, the journey with IgAN is a struggle, often filled with misinformation, sometimes years of medical uncertainty, or not knowing where to turn. It’s easy to feel alone and isolated. We are set to change this!

With the launch of our Ambassador Program in early 2023, we’ve been able to extend the voice and geographic reach of the Foundation across the U.S. and globally – harnessing the power of our IgAN community to support, inspire, engage, and activate patients and caregivers, near and far.

Through this program, our trained ambassadors serve as our “boots on the ground,” helping to advance our mission and raise critical awareness of IgAN, grow our IgAN family, push for better treatments, and reach and empower patients and caregivers earlier in their journey.

Our ambassadors can help connect you with up-to-date information, disease management tools and support with the goal of making sure no one faces IgA Nephropathy alone.

Find an ambassador near you. (Ambassadors are listed in alphabetical order by state.)

Amanda Crowe IgAN Ambassador

Amanda Crowe, MPH, MA

Director of Education & Outreach
Fairfield County
,
CT
amandacrowe@igan.org
Learn More

Kate Kostelyk

Operation Manager
Orlando
,
FL
Dedicated runner, horseback rider, and animal lover
Kate@igan.org
Learn More

Samantha Schweisthal

City: Phenix City
State/Province: AL
Fun Fact: Professional fire starter & nature enthusiast
Email: Samantha@igan.org
My story
IgAN Ambassador Carly

Carly Leong

City: Calgary
State/Province: Alberta
Country: Canada
Fun Fact: I love reading, gardening, and my three cats.
My story
Caitlin McCormick

Caitlin McCormick

City: Queen Creek
State/Province: AZ
Country: United States
Fun Fact: International traveler (18 countries!), Star Trek lover, and cooking fanatic
My story

Steven Mayo

City: Oxnard
State/Province: CA
Fun Fact: Photography, camping, music, traveling and hiking.
Email: Steven@igan.org
My story

Yulanda Mayo

City: Oxnard
State/Province: CA
Fun Fact: Stain glass, camping, music and playing with grandkids.
Email: Yulanda@igan.org
My story
Libbie Decker

Libbie Decker

City: Covina
State/Province: CA
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Baker, hiker, adventure enthusiast, joyful soul, and proud boy mom!
My story

Shaun McMikle

City: Boulder
State/Province: CO
Fun Fact: Choir singer & ancestry buff
Email: Shaun@igan.org
My story

Paul Browne

City: Centennial
State/Province: CO
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Played rugby for England.
My story

Dawn Fowler

City: Ormond Beach
State/Province: FL
Email: Dawn@igan.org
My story

Jeff Banks

City: Stuart
State/Province: FL
Fun Fact: Visited 49 out of the 50 states
Email: Jeff@igan.org
My story
Lorelie Yost

Lorelie Yost

City: Cape Coral
State/Province: FL
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Chick flick lover, spicy food eater
My story

Maria Mcguire

City: Midlothian
State/Province: IL
Fun Fact: Avid reader, cooking/entertaining
Email: Maria@igan.org
My story
Tushar Patel

Tushar Patel, MD

City: Schaumburg
State/Province: IL
Country: United States
Fun Fact: I enjoy cooking (air frying, really), exercising, and organizing around the house.
My story
Marko Milosevic

Marko Milosevic

City: Chicago
State/Province: IL
Country: United States
My story
Nicole Rodriguez

Nicole Rodriguez

City: Plainfield
State/Province: IL
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Been with the same company for 24 years, started out opening mail and am now a technical project manager
My story

Ami Gopalan

City: Chicago
State/Province: IL
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Yogi and avid hiker
My story

Leah Jenkins

City: Hamilton
State/Province: IN
Fun Fact: Loves learning new things, languages, travel, and water aerobics
Email: Leah@igan.org
My story
Cathy Barba

Cathy Barba

City: Wichita
State/Province: KS
Fun Fact: Plant, houseplant and animal lover
My story

Victoria Bartlett

City: Franklin
State/Province: MA
Fun Fact: Mom to 3 adult kids and soon-to-be empty-nester
Email: Victoria@igan.org
My story

David Walter

City: Portland
State/Province: ME
Fun Fact: Eating disorder psychiatrist, Philly sports fan from birth
Email: David@igan.org
My story
Nancy Nichols

Nancy Nichols

City: Marysville
State/Province: MI
Fun Fact: Obsessed with pickleball and microshare owner of two race horses
Email: Nancy@igan.org
My story

Malkia White

City: Chesterfield
State/Province: MO
Fun Fact: Songbird, self-proclaimed UNO Champ and lover of the thesaurus
Email: Malkia@igan.org
My story

Torey Bishop

City: Raytown
State/Province: MO
Fun Fact: Country girl at heart, farm upbringing, and summers at Lake of the Ozark’s
Email: Torey@igan.org
My story

Cindy Ross

City: Oxford
State/Province: MS
Fun Fact: Music trivia enthusiast and wannabe baker
Email: Cindy@igan.org
My story
Skip Lennon

Skip Lennon

City: Wilmington
State/Province: NC
Fun Fact: Fitness and wellness enthusiast
My story

Alejandra Flores

City: Charlotte
State/Province: NC
Country: United States
Fun Fact: I spent 4 days in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest!
My story
jennifer hiskett

Jennifer Hiskett

City: Fallon
State/Province: NV
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Loves to travel, bake, and spend time with family
My story

Maureen Sackett

City: Bayville
State/Province: NY
Fun Fact: Loves long walks and sunsets on the beach
Email: Maureen@igan.org
My story

Tanya Stehler

City: Rittman
State/Province: OH
Fun Fact: Took 2 years of culinary arts and loves to bake
Email: Tanya@igan.org
My story
Katie Strange

Katie Strange

City: Ashland
State/Province: OH
Fun Fact: I love traveling, Ohio State Football, and I’m rarely caught without a book nearby.
My story

Whitney Simmons

City: Oklahoma City
State/Province: OK
Fun Fact: Grew up on a dairy
Email: Whitney@igan.org
My story

Ruchi Ambike

City: Mississauga
State/Province: Ontario
Country: Canada
Fun Fact: Loves to dance and Blue Jays fan
Email: Ruchi@igan.org
My story
IgAN Ambassador Cassy

Cassy Rivett

State/Province: Ontario
Country: Canada
Fun Fact: Dog mom to 3, post-transplant, loves travel!
My story
Preston Jamison

Preston Jamison

State/Province: Ontario
Country: Canada
Fun Fact: Blue Jays baseball fan, dog lover, coffee connoisseur
My story

Amanda Lamborn

City: Bensalem
State/Province: PA
Fun Fact: I like to build computers and tinker on electronics
Email: Amandal@igan.org
My story

Emily Hassler

City: Wynnewood
State/Province: PA
Fun Fact: Crafty, rock and mineral loving stay-at-home mom
Email: Emily@igan.org
My story

Melissa Wade

City: Cranberry Township
State/Province: PA
Fun Fact: Living donor to Byron, and Division 1 swimmer at UM
Email: Melissa@igan.org
My story

Byron Wade

City: Cranberry Township
State/Province: PA
Fun Fact: Eagle Scout and lived in Europe
Email: Byron@igan.org
My story

Sharon Tozer

City: Lewisberry
State/Province: PA
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Proud Gigi, mom and Army Veteran
My story
Will Lamborn

Will Lamborn

City: Bensalem
State/Province: PA
Fun Fact: Likes building computers and tinkering with electronics
My story
Thelma Barber

Thelma Barber

City: Fort Mill
State/Province: SC
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Inspiring lyricist, enjoys performing improv
My story
Wanda Bartschat

Wanda Bartschat

City: Irmo,
State/Province: SC
Country: United States
Fun Fact: I lost on Jeopardy against two returning champions
My story

Reed Morton

City: Brentwood
State/Province: TN
My story

Tiffany Archibald

City: Garland
State/Province: TX
Fun Fact: Lived in 8 states and 5 countries
Email: Tiffany@igan.org
My story
Amy Frackowiak

Amy Frackowiak

City: Spring
State/Province: TX
Country: United STates
Fun Fact: Beach lover, transplant games champion, sports enthusiast.
My story

Kenika Jackson-Green

City: Virginia Beach
State/Province: VA
Fun Fact: Avid DIYer and Skincare curator
Email: Kenika@igan.org
My story

Michelle Minkoff

City: Culpeper
State/Province: VA
Fun Fact: Computer programmer and budding plant-forward chef
Email: Michelle@igan.org
My story
IgAN Ambassador Ginger Murphy

Ginger Murphy

City: Strasburg
State/Province: VA
Country: United States
Fun Fact: Mortgage banker, beach enthusiast, and gigi of five.
Email: Ginger@igan.org
My story
Kelly Schoenborn

Kelly Schoenborn

City: Seattle
State/Province: WA
Country: United States
Fun Fact: World traveler (I’ve lived in Japan and Italy!), architect, and dog lover
My story

Chris Scroggins

City: Milwaukee
State/Province: WI
Fun Fact: Enjoys climbing, surfing, and music
Email: Chris@igan.org
My story

There are currently no ambassadors in your area

Interested in learning more or applying to be an ambassador? Click here or email amandacrowe@igan.org or kate@igan.org

To learn more about our Ambassador Program. Click HERE, or the button below.

Ambassador Program
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References

  • Hall, Y.N., Fuentes, E.F., Chertow, G.M. et al. Race/ethnicity and disease severity in IgA nephropathy. BMC Nephrol 5, 10 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2369-5-10
  • Kiryluk K, Li Y, Sanna-Cherchi S, Rohanizadegan M, Suzuki H, et al. (2012) Geographic Differences in Genetic Susceptibility to IgA Nephropathy: GWAS Replication Study and Geospatial Risk Analysis. PLoS Genet 8(6): e1002765. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002765