About Marrow Mates

Who We Are

Marrow Mates is dedicated to supporting blood cancer patients throughout their marrow or stem cell transplant process.

 

Mission Statement

To expand the diversity of existing donor registries to enable equal outcomes for all blood disease patients in need of a stem cell transplant

“That was the prayer I bartered just before my bone marrow donation several years ago. With teenage kids of my own at the time, I wrote my recipient and her parents a letter. With respect to the anonymity for how this process works and without a name, I started my letter to her with the salutation of “Dear Marrow-Mate”.

My recipient is now a vibrant young woman living life to the fullest with my transplanted and adopted immune system.  Keeping up my end of the bargain, I advocate in just about every facet of the transplantation process.  As a non-profit organization, Marrow Mates was born on the belief that the best way to encourage more people to join a registry is to share stories from altruistic donors and the patients that have been given a second chance at life as a result of a marrow/stem cell transplant.”​

- Marrow Mates Founder and Chief People Connector, Jeff Haertling

Since donating in 2009, Jeff Haertling kept his promise to continue to advocate and volunteer on the behalf of blood cancer patients, and in 2018 established Marrow Mates as a non-profit, public charity to recruit minorities as potential donors for the benefit of searching patients with diverse or blended ethnic ancestry.

Jeff suset

 

Meet the Team

Morgan Mendoza

Jeff Haertling
Founder and Chief People Connector

 

Jeff is a longtime advocate for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and for blood cancer patients everywhere. He has served as a legislative ambassador...

 

and has traveled tens of thousands of miles as a volunteer courier delivering stem cells to awaiting patients from fellow altruistic donors. He’s also served for a decade as a donor liaison to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). In 2019, he was the proud recipient of the Public Service Award from the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT). He is a 30+ year small business owner within the air cargo logistics industry.
Morgan Mendoza

Morgan Mendoza
Director of Social Marketing

 

Morgan is a Florida native and University of South Florida alumna. In her years with Marrow Mates she has seen the visceral impact the organization has made and feels lucky...

 

to be a moving part in saving lives. Social media and content creation are her career passions, which she enjoys implementing through storytelling, social campaigns and community outreach efforts. When she is not being a social media socialite, she loves discovering new music, making various types of art, and being a dog mom.
Wanda Zimmer

Wanda Zimmer
EFDS Coordinator

 

Wanda is a southern California resident and received a stem cell transplant in 2011. Her first donor, who was the only perfect match in the world,...

 

backed out at the last minute the day before she was going into the hospital. Another match was found for her which wasn’t a great match, but in the end, acted like a perfect match. This has allowed her to be here today happy, healthy and living a life she never thought she would. Her donor and his family are now members of Wanda’s family as they go on vacations together and always contact each other on the anniversary of her transplant. She calls her donor Aaron her “perfect stranger”.
Susan Haertling

Susan Haertling
VP of Genetic Genealogy and EFDS Programs

 

Susan is a licensed US Customs Broker with over 30 years experience working in various international trade, logistics and distribution roles. She is currently the Senior Director of Trade and Logistics for...

 

West Pharmaceutical Services. Susan is a mother of 2 adoptees and an adoptee herself. Her desire to find her birth family turned into a passion for genetic genealogy, which she used to find her biological parents, brothers and multiple cousins, aunts and uncles. Susan also helps others find birth family using her experience with DNA platforms and genetic genealogy tools and resources. When not working at West, solving family mysteries or volunteering for Marrow Mates, Susan enjoys boating, golfing, and playing with her 3 rescue dogs Ginger, Mya and Ozzie.
Marlo Miller

Marlo Miller
Social Media Content Creator

 

Marlo was born in Cape Town, South Africa and graduated from USF in 2019 with a Bachelor'sDegree in Mass Communications. She has been a social media & content creator...

 

at Marrow Mates since February 2020 and states that it has been the most incredible experience that she wouldn't trade for anything. She says, not only does she get to do what she loves, here at Marrow Mates, but she feels good being a part of such an incredible organization. In her free time, she is a concert photographer and absolutely loves creating art!
Tammy Christensen

Tammy Christensen
EFDS Coordinator

 

Tammy first got involved with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) when her daughter, Kim, was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2009 and...

 

needed a bone marrow transplant. She has been a strong advocate for the NMDP since 2009 volunteering with walk/run events, marrow donor drives, blood drives, and being a volunteer Stem Cell Courier. She is honored to be a part of the Marrow Mates team and help find donor heroes for waiting patients so that they can continue to live life. When not recruiting heros, she also enjoys cooking and experimenting with healthy whole food recipes.
Debiann McIntosh

Debiann McIntosh
Director of Organizational Growth

 

In 2010, when Debiann’s late mother was diagnosed with Leukemia, a bone marrow transplant was her only option. Throughout that one year, Debiann had one goal:...

 

to educate and unite the community on how we can work together to bring change to diverse communities. She has dedicated her life to advocating for searching patients and their families. In 2020, she began the endeavor of becoming a consultant for nonprofits. Developing several community engagement projects, student groups, and campaigns. Resulting in having a direct connection with patients and their families journeys, allowing her to develop relationships within different communities. Her mission is to one day have equal opportunity for all searching patients and their families. She is honored and excited to be part of the innovative Marrow Mates team.
Kimberly Christensen

Kimberly Christensen
EFDS Outreach Specialist and Coordinator

 

In March of 2009, Kim was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia and later that year received a life- saving marrow transplant from her donor Jeff Haertling. She grew up in Washington state,...

 

graduated from Western Washington University, and has since been teaching ESL in various countries abroad. Kim states that she would not have had the experiences she’s had and the life she lives today without Jeff’s kindness in donating stem cells to a complete stranger. She has been working with Marrow Mates since early 2020 and enjoys having the ability to work for the organization alongside traveling and teaching.