Field Ambassador, Executive Committee Member
David Rodriguez, originally from Brownsville, Texas, is a two-time transplant recipient, advocate, and author dedicated to advancing organ and tissue donation awareness. Diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) while living in Austin, Texas, he received a kidney transplant in 2011 through the Pair-Exchange Donation Program at University Health Transplant Institute in San Antonio, TX, and later a liver transplant in 2021.
David serves as a Field Ambassador, Public Policy Committee Member, and Executive Committee Member for the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP). He has represented AAKP nationally through the Vertex ICF Patient Advisory Committee and the SRTR Review Patient and Family Affairs Subcommittee. David also serves as an Ambassador and Consultant with the American Liver Foundation, focusing on patient advocacy, education, and public policy initiatives, and as a Strategic Advisor & Advocacy Consultant for EMC Strategy Group, headquartered in San Antonio, TX. He is currently based in North Texas and Washington, DC.
In 2017, David founded Kidney Solutions – A Network of Transplant Experience, a nonprofit created to support dialysis and transplant patients through education and mentorship. He later withdrew from the organization but remains the original founder and architect of its mission.
David is the author of Navigating Kidney Failure: A Comprehensive Guide to Managing Your Health and Resources and has published a Patient Voice article in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology titled “Kidney Disease Burden and Kidney Transplantation: A True Story.” His advocacy has been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2017 NKF Rita Littlefield Patient Spirit Award, the 2018 Texas Kidney Foundation Volunteer of the Year Award, the 2020 and 2022 AAKP Presidential Volunteer Service Awards (PVSA), and the 2025 Samuel J. Orenstein Award, presented at AAKP’s National Patient Meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.
A former Patient Navigator and Patient Relationship Specialist at University Health Transplant Institute, David developed outreach programs that engaged dialysis patients by visiting more than 200 dialysis centers across Texas. David also shares his time as a bilingual speaker for a national speaker program dedicated to raising awareness about transplant options. In his personal time, he enjoys cooking, traveling, watching sports, and reading history and biographies.
