FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 28, 2026

Contact: Emily Polet-Monterosso

248-824-0495

e.polet-monterosso@nkdo.org

National Kidney Donation Organization is selected as one of nine recipients of the 2026 KidneyX EMPOWER: Living Link Prize Challenge to Advance Living Kidney Donation and Patient-Centered Innovation

Stratford, CT. — August 28, 2026 — Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the nine winners of the 2026 KidneyX EMPOWER: Living Link Prize Challenge, a national competition designed to accelerate innovative solutions that support living kidney donors and the patients who rely on them. The challenge was conducted through Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX), a public-private partnership between HHS and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). 

The goal of the 2026 EMPOWER Prize Challenge is to “develop informational resources, care models, and technological interventions designed to empower prospective donors, clinicians caring for them, people with kidney diseases, and their families” (https://kidneyxempowerchallenge.org/). 

A total of nine winning teams were recognized for their bold, practical solutions that improve public awareness and mentorship; donor interventions; donor readiness and eligibility; donor-centered outcomes; and donation center practices.

NKDO is proud to share that out of nearly 100 qualified applicants from around the country, we have been selected to receive one of the nine prizes. The prize associated with our selection will help facilitate the continued execution of our mission, as well as finance new initiatives- but more exciting than the financial award is the national recognition and exposure this award will bring. It is our deepest hope that as a result of this, we will be able to develop enhanced relationships with aligned partners with the end goal of serving prospective donors and those connected to donation earlier in the donation process. 

“This KidneyX award is tremendous validation of what NKDO has believed from the beginning: people considering living kidney donation benefit enormously from connecting with someone who has already made that journey. This support will allow us to expand the Living Link Network nationally, reach more prospective donors and patients, and ultimately help more people receive a life-saving kidney transplant.”

— Matt Harmody, MD, Living Kidney Donor, Board Chair, National Kidney Donation Organization

Read more about our selection, and the other winners, by checking out the attached press release from the Health and Human Services department of the US federal government: https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-announced-winners-of-2026-kidneyx-empower-living-link-prize-challenge.html

“Our selection for this honor is in no small part due to the hard work of the people who started this organization ten years ago- primarily, living kidney donors who saw that their experience could benefit the people who came after them. I am grateful for their initiative, and honored to work to bring our collective vision for a world where nobody has to wait for a life-saving kidney transplant to a wider audience.” 

– Emily Polet-Monterosso, Living Kidney Donor, Executive Director, National Kidney Donation Organization

NKDO will be honored during the KidneyX EMPOWER Winners Showcase on September 10, 2026 in Washington, D.C. We will present more about the programs NKDO already executes to serve and support living donors, as well as share about new initiatives the prize will allow us to execute. 

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