Southwest Transplant Alliance Welcomes Leigh Strope as Chief External Affairs Officer
[DALLAS] – Southwest Transplant Alliance (STA), a nonprofit dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation, announces Leigh Strope as the new Senior Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer, effective Dec. 15, 2025. This new role supports STA’s ongoing efforts to enhance partnerships with hospitals, donor families and communities as it works to increase organ and tissue availability for transplantation and research.
Strope will guide STA’s overarching external strategy, including communications, marketing and stakeholder relations to advance the organization’s lifesaving mission. She will oversee all community engagement and government relations efforts and the hospital services team that builds relationships with hospital partners to support every step of the organ and tissue donation process.
“Leigh Strope brings exceptional communications expertise and a strong background in health care leadership to her role as Chief External Affairs Officer,” said Brad Adams, President and CEO at STA. “We are confident that her experience will amplify STA’s mission, elevate our community partnerships and strengthen the lifesaving impact of organ and tissue donation across our communities.”
Once a business reporter at The Dallas Business Journal and Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Strope worked her way up to a spot in Washington, D.C., as a National Reporter for The Associated Press. With years of journalism under her belt, Strope transitioned into strategic communications roles, including at Burson-Marsteller, where she provided counsel to public companies and major nonprofit organizations. From there, she moved into health care-focused communications, working at GRAIL Inc., HCA Healthcare/Medical City Healthcare and CHRISTUS Health.
“It is a privilege to join an organization driven by such a profound and lifesaving mission,” Strope said. I’m excited to help elevate our voice, expand our impact and champion a future where even more lives are transformed through donation.”
About Southwest Transplant Alliance
Southwest Transplant Alliance (STA) is a nonprofit organization based in Dallas, Texas, that saves lives through the gifts of organ and tissue donation. Founded in 1974, STA has honored the gifts of more than 10,000 selfless donors, saving more than 30,000 lives. A member of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, STA is among the largest of 55 federally designated nonprofit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States. STA serves communities in North Texas, Beaumont, Bryan/College Station, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Galveston, Midland/Odessa, Temple, Tyler, and Wichita Falls. For more information, visit organ.org.