Teens navigating organ transplant are asked to carry life or death responsibility
before being given the tools to understand it.
Micah Clayborne, 15
Heart Transplant Recipient
Founder/ceo of Transplant Teenz
Transplant Teenz (TTZ) is a national, youth-led organization supporting teens (grades 7–12) impacted by organ transplant—including recipients, those awaiting transplant, and teens in transplant-affected households.
TTZ helps young people navigate responsibility they never asked for, in a way that makes sense for where they are developmentally.
Instead of expecting teens to instantly understand lifelong consequences, TTZ:
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Teaches responsibility gradually
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Builds confidence and independence
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Develops leadership and voice
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Creates peer spaces where teens don’t feel alone in their complexity
How we Work
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Education & Readiness
Helping teens understand their bodies, responsibilities, and choices.
Leadership & Advocacy
Supporting teens in finding and using their voice.
Community & Peer Connection
Creating spaces where teens don’t have to explain or defend their experience.
Systems Change
Improving how adults and institutions understand and support teens living with lifelong complexity.
Funding & Partnership
We partner with organizations that support youth development, leadership, education, equity, or prevention-focused work.
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Responsibility requires develops—it isn’t automatic
Prevention is more effective than punishment
Teens succeed when systems meet them where they are
