Donate Life New York State’s leadership is comprised of individuals dedicated to supporting our mission to increase organ, eye, and tissue donation in New York State through collaborative advocacy, education, promotion, and research. Our goal is to ensure a transplant for every New Yorker in need.
Aisha M. Tator
Executive Director
Aisha M. Tator is the Executive Director of Donate Life New York State, and is responsible for leading the organization in its mission to increase organ, eye and tissue donation throughout New York State. During her tenure beginning in 2012, the organization boasts many accomplishments. Key among them are the securing the New York State contract to develop and oversee the New York State Donate Life Registry (Registry); passage of legislation lowering the minimum age of enrollment, allowing 16 and 17-year olds to enroll in the Registry; and developing expanded statewide portals for organ and tissue registration, such as the New York Health Insurance Exchange.
Before joining Donate Life New York State, Ms. Tator was the Regional Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs for the March of Dimes where she advocated before the state and local governments to adopt public policies, programs and funding to improve the health of mothers and babies. Ms. Tator received her graduate degree from University at Albany, State University of New York. She was selected to participate in a year-long post-graduate fellowship with the New York State Senate. Following her fellowship, she continued to work in the Senate as Director of Policy and Administration.
Board of Directors
John J. Flanagan
Chair
Vice President of Regional Government Affairs, Northwell Health’s Eastern Region
John J. Flanagan is Vice President of Regional Government Affairs for the Eastern Region of Northwell Health, a nonprofit integrated healthcare network serving NYC, Long Island and Westchester. Prior to his current role, he served the NYS legislature as both an Assemblymember and Senator. Between 2015 and 2019, Senator Flanagan served as the NYS Senate Majority Leader, and as Minority Leader from 2019 to 2020. As a lawmaker, Senator Flanagan advocated for both funding and legislation to improve NYS Donate Life Registry enrollment rates.
Senator Flanagan graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1983 with a B.A. in economics. He received his J.D. degree from Touro Law School in 1990 and was admitted to practice law in New York State in 1991. He was appointed to Donate Life NYS’ Board of Directors in 2021 and began serving as Board Chair in 2024.
Christine Rutigliano
Vice-Chair
Managing Director, The Roffe Group, P.C.
Christine Rutigliano is the recipient of a liver transplant. She currently serves as Managing Director for The Roffe Group of Robinson+Cole, a full service New York Government Relations practice uniquely suited to generating positive results for a broad spectrum of clients. Prior to joining the firm, she held the position of Deputy Comptroller in the New York Office of State Comptroller (OSC). Ms. Rutigliano spent nearly 15 years working for the New York State Legislature, spending time in both the New York State Senate and Assembly.
Ms. Rutigliano received her Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Economics from the State University of New York at Oneonta, and her Masters’ degree, Summa Cum Laude, in Public Policy at Marist College, where she was named Outstanding Scholar in her program. She was appointed to Donate Life NYS’ Board of Directors in 2021, and began serving as Board Vice-Chair in 2024.
James Lytle
Secretary and Treasurer
Senior Counsel, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (Retired)
James Lytle was most recently Senior Counsel in the Albany and Boston offices of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, a national law and consulting firm. He is currently a Fellow with the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. He helped oversee the firm’s Albany office and provides health law and governmental relations representation to a broad array of clients with interests before the New York State Legislature and the executive branch, including clients in the fields of education and cultural affairs, healthcare, human services, insurance, biomedical research, and economic development. He has been recognized by Chambers USA as a Leading Lawyer since 2011 and was included in Best Lawyers in America since 2013, where he was named Best Lawyer of the Year in Albany for Health Law in 2017 and for Government Relations Law in 2017 and 2020. He served as Assistant Counsel to Governor Mario M. Cuomo, was the founding director of the Volunteer Legal Services Project in Rochester, NY and began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.
Mr. Lytle graduated from Princeton University in 1974 and received his JD from Harvard Law School in 1978, where he was he Director of the Harvard Legislative Research Bureau. He is the former Chair of the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy (SCAA), former Chair of the College Council of SUNY Empire State College, and the former President of the his local school board. He was appointed to Donate Life NYS’ Board of Directors in 2020.
Kevin D. Gramlich
Director
President & CEO, ConnectLife
Kevin is a nationally recognized healthcare leader with nearly three decades of experience in organ, eye, and tissue donation. He currently serves as President and CEO of ConnectLife, formerly Upstate New York Transplant Services, where he has held senior leadership roles since 1995. Throughout his career, Kevin has overseen clinical operations, regulatory compliance, hospital partnerships, and large multidisciplinary teams, while advancing best practices in donation nationwide. He has also served on numerous professional committees and boards, including Donate Life NYS’ Legislative Committee and Finance Committee.
Edwin H. Roberts
Director
Associate Director, Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration
Edwin is a mission-driven nonprofit executive with more than 20 years of experience advancing eye and tissue donation and strengthening regulatory compliance across the donation system. He currently serves as Associate Director at The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration in New York City, where he leads strategic initiatives focused on quality assurance, donor screening, and institutional readiness. Edwin also holds multiple national leadership roles with the Eye Bank Association of America, including serving on its Medical Advisory Board, Accreditation Board, and Policy and Position Review Subcommittee.
John G. Schmidt, Jr.
Director
Partner, Phillips Lytle LLP
Mr. Schmidt is the co-leader of Phillips Lytle’s Business Litigation Practice Team. He has extensive experience in complex business disputes and commercial litigation, including class actions, shareholder and partner disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims, contract disputes, business torts and fraud matters.
Mr. Schmidt represents a variety of companies and individuals—from large corporations to closely-held businesses, professional firms, not-for-profits and individuals. He serves clients in a variety of industries and professions, including health care, energy, legal, technology, finance, education, manufacturing, municipalities, charities and religious groups. He also practices in technology litigation, computer forensics, white collar and government investigations defense, and antitrust. He has extensive litigation experience in state and federal courts, both trial and appellate. Mr. Schmidt has been appointed by several courts in complex corporate and personal disputes requiring receiverships and fraud investigations. He was appointed to the Donate Life NYS’ Board of Directors in 2024. He also serves on the boards of several other civic and charitable organizations.
Naheima Sears
Director
Marketing Consultant
Naheima Sears has been guiding companies for the last 20 years as CEO and CMO in the luxury industry. Her constant state of evolution and development, both personally and professionally, has contributed to her unique storytelling abilities that have helped people and organizations seeking to change their legacies by building values rooted in conscious capitalism, compassionate leadership, and sustainability.
Leading by example and resisting marginalization, Ms. Sears has used her talents to empower others, enabling them to learn, to lean in, and to do the work that matters to them and their greater good. She lives her convictions fully and has shared her philosophy with clients and organizations as a speaker at Google, PEMCO, the United Nations, and as a lecturer at Stanford University. A strong believer in conscious conversations, she believes it is conscious engagement that really moves the needle in businesses and organizations. When not working or writing, you will find her working somewhere in the world on a philanthropic project, or healing herself and others by the waves. She was appointed to the Donate Life NYS’ Board of Directors in 2020.
Bruce W. Stroever
Director
President/CEO, MTF Biologics (Retired)
Bruce W. Stroever has forty-seven years of product development and general management experience in the medical device and orthobiologics fields. He was most recently President/CEO of MTF Biologics and retired from that position in June of 2018. Mr. Stroever joined MTF in late 1988 as General Manager. In 1992, he was named President and then in 1996 President/CEO of the organization. Under Mr. Stroever’s leadership, MTF grew to be the largest tissue bank in the world with over 1100 employees and revenues in excess of $400 million per year. Prior to joining MTF, Mr. Stroever held several positions with Ethicon, Inc. a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. He has served on several boards of directors and is currently a Member of the Board of Directors of Bone Biologics, Inc., a Massachusetts biotechnology firm. He is on the Board of Advisors for the Engineering School at Stevens Institute of Technology, and has served several terms as a member of the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) Board of Governors.
Since retiring from MTF, Mr. Stroever has become more involved in local volunteer work assisting the local food bank, and, after having earned his EMT certificate, riding with the Long Valley First Aid Squad. Mr. Stroever received his B.E. in Mechanical/Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and his M.S. in Bioengineering from Columbia University. He was appointed to the Donate Life NYS’ Board of Directors in 2020, and has served as Board Secretary and Treasurer since 2021.
Ashmeet Walia
Director
Mission Connected, Business Owner
Ashmeet brings a personal and community-driven perspective to the Donate Life NYS Board. Inspired by her father-in-law’s liver transplant and his passing while awaiting a kidney, she and her family turned their grief into advocacy, raising awareness about organ donation across Long Island and New York State. A longtime small business leader and co-manager of her family’s retail stores, Ashmeet has deep experience in customer service and outreach. She is also the mother of Ava, Donate Life NYS’ first Junior Ambassador, and has advanced organ donation awareness through school programs, legislative advocacy, and culturally focused outreach in the Indian American community.