(April 25, 2024 - NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ) – NJ Sharing Network, the federally designated non-profit organization focused on saving and enhancing lives through the recovery of donated organs and tissue in the Garden State, has appointed Catherine M. DeAppolonio as General Counsel and Government Affairs. DeAppolonio oversees crucial elements of the organization’s legal operations, including the identification, evaluation, and treatment of risk within the organization. She also directs reviews of policies and procedures and educates team members on NJ Sharing Network corporate compliance processes.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of NJ Sharing Network’s esteemed leadership team to advance our lifesaving mission. Every day brings fresh opportunities to contribute to the powerful impact organ and tissue donation and transplantation has on the lives of donor families, recipients, and our entire community,” said DeAppolonio, who residents in Scotch Plains with her husband, Christian Solis, and their son, Michael.
DeAppolonio earned a Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School of Union University and was admitted to the practice of law in New Jersey in 2005 and New York in 2006. For more than 16 years, she served in private practice concentrating in the areas of civil litigation, employment defense, public entity defense, and law enforcement defense. DeAppolonio has appeared in state and federal courts handling cases from the pre-lawsuit phase, to depositions, discovery, motions, mediation and through jury trial and appeal. She was appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to the District XII Ethics Committee, 2013-2021, and named to the New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars lists, 2018-2020.
DeAppolonio’s role at NJ Sharing Network focuses her legal talents on a cause she is passionate about. Catherine has supported organ and tissue donation since her best friend and college roommate at the University of New Hampshire suddenly passed away at the age of 20 and saved the lives of others as an organ donor.
“Our NJ Sharing Network team members admire Catherine for her dedication and proven leadership in spearheading best practices for our organization,” said Carolyn M. Welsh, President and CEO, NJ Sharing Network. “Her expertise and critical thinking skills will help ensure NJ Sharing Network’s continued growth as one of the top performing Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO) in the nation.”
NJ Sharing Network, headquartered in New Providence, NJ, partners with an extensive network of 54 local hospitals to provide hope for the nearly 4,000 New Jersey residents currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, and it is part of the national recovery system for the over 100,000 people on the national transplant waiting list. For five consecutive years, NJ Sharing Network has reported organ donation records, and 3.8 million New Jerseyans are registered as organ and tissue donors, according to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC). NJ Sharing Network has also been recognized by NJBIZ for six consecutive years as one of the state’s ‘Best Places to Work.’ To learn more, get involved, and join the National Donate Life Registry as an organ and tissue donor, visit www.NJSharingNetwork.org.