About Us


About Kidney Donor Conversations

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Kidney Donor Conversations is a 501c3 nonprofit that provides education and support for living kidney donation.

Vision

More kidney donors are waiting to donate than people on the transplant waiting list and everyone has one healthy kidney.

Our Team

Glenna Frey, APRN-CNS

Executive Director
Treasurer
Board of Directors
As a nephrology nurse and living kidney donor (nondirected, April 2017), Glenna has spent most of her life enmeshed with kidneys. Between her career and marrying into a family with kidney disease, she has been heavily involved in foundations, walks, and organizations that eat, sleep, and breathe kidneys. It was only a matter of time until she created her own organization from scratch!

​Amanda Frey, M.A., LPC, LMFT

Creative Director
Board of Directors
As a counselor, marriage & family therapist, and donor advocate, Amanda's life revolves around helping and empowering others. Growing up in a kidney-crazed family and having a genetic kidney disease (Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)) sparked her passion for kidney donation and advocacy. Her artistic side is also a huge bonus, acting as a graphic designer while everything is pro-bono!

Dave Switzer

President
Dave Switzer has a range of marketing and communications experience in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He served 15+ years in the broadcast television industry with roles in promotions, news and community affairs management. He was also the Director of Marketing and Communications at the PKD Foundation, a nonprofit focused on kidney disease research, patient advocacy and education.

Tara O'Brien, Ph.D., R.N.

Board of Directors
Dr. O’Brien is an assistant professor of nursing at Ohio State University, focusing on developing self-management interventions to promote health outcomes in kidney transplant recipients. She has been a certified nurse educator since 2010 and brings 15 years of knowledge for integrating technology to promote active learning and to achieve health goals in research.

Our Story

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1981
1981

Glenna Baumbarger graduated from nursing school and started a lifelong career in nephrology. A few years later, she met her future father-in-law when he became a patient in her kidney transplant unit. She “married her kidney disease” later on when her and Robert Frey tied the knot. With Robert’s family having a long, genetic history of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), Glenna officially signed up for having kidney issues in her family life, not just her work life.

2002
2002

Robert’s kidney disease progressed to the point of kidney failure, and he needed a transplant. Glenna’s niece, only 20 at the time, volunteered to donate one of her kidneys to her uncle-in-law Robert. She was a match, and the transplant went off without a hitch. He still has her kidney, and she’s living a healthy and happy life knowing that her “spare” helped give him his life back.

2002 - Continued

Since PKD is a genetic disease, Glenna and Robert knew there was a 50% chance their children would inherit it. In 2014, their daughter, Amanda, was officially diagnosed with PKD via ultrasound, after three months of an ongoing UTI. Amanda has always wanted to donate a kidney, so the most disappointing part of being diagnosed with PKD was removing that possibility. Their son, Sawyer, remains asymptomatic and does not yet know whether he inherited the disease.

2015
2015

Glenna started her long journey to become a non-directed kidney donor. Robert told her at a nephrology appointment, “You’re getting older. If you’re going to give your kidney away, you’d better do it now.” Two years later, she successfully donated her kidney to a stranger in Cincinnati, Ohio. She recovered quickly, and, though she has not met her recipient, she has been told he is doing well.

2018
2018

With two lifetimes that clearly revolved around kidneys, Glenna and Amanda created Kidney Donor Conversations. Both Frey women have a huge passion for helping and inspiring others. With Glenna’s nephrology training and kidney donation experience, and Amanda’s creativity, design skills, and counselor perspective, their combined talents have created a kidney donation nonprofit unlike any other out there. Their focus is on spreading living kidney donation awareness in a pressure-free way, to spark conversations, and help those trying to navigate the kidney donation system.

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2021 Annual Report

Kidney Donor Conversations’s fourth year.

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501c3 Non-Profit Tax Exemption Letter

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State of Ohio Certificate

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Discovering more kidney donors helps people live longer!

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