Samantha Golden
Director, Donor Resource Center & Tissue Authorization
Samantha Golden leads operations for the Donor Resource Center and Tissue Authorization Departments at Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network. She is responsible for planning, developing, and implementing procedures and protocols to advance Gift of Hope’s mission to save and enhance the lives of as many people as possible through organ and tissue donation. Golden also oversees the requirements of regulatory agencies for referral and tissue authorization processes.
Golden began her career as a 911 emergency dispatcher while also serving as a medic for paid and volunteer services. In 2010, she began working at the American Red Cross in Blood Services and Disaster Services as a disaster program manager for the city of Chicago, Cook County and surrounding counties.
Before joining Gift of Hope in 2018, Golden was the executive director of call center operations at Medcor, Inc., in McHenry, Illinois.
Golden holds her bachelor of science degree in emergency management from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, and is pursuing her master of business administration at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She is a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist (CTBS) and is a member of the Recovery and Donor Eligibility (RADE) Council of the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). She also is a certified professional with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and an SSGI/Baldrige Institute Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.