American Kidney Fund

As AKF wrapped up #KidneyMonth, our Ambassadors and staff gathered in Denver, Colorado, for the inaugural West Coast Kidney Action Summit! 🏔️ AKF Ambassadors from 11 states came together for a weekend filled with advocacy training, meaningful connections, and empowering discussions. Throughout the summit, they gained valuable insights into engaging with their local legislatures and learned how to harness the power of their personal kidney journeys to drive change at both the local and state levels. A heartfelt thank you to all the AKF Ambassadors who joined us—we appreciate your passion and dedication! We can’t wait to continue the momentum at our annual Kidney Action Summit, happening the first week of May in Washington, D.C.!

The FDA has approved Amgen’s Uplizna to help reduce risk of flares in adults with IgG4-RD, a rare immune system-related chronic condition that can lead to inflammation & scarring of organs including the kidneys. This is the first treatment approved for IGG4-related disease: https://bit.ly/3Ebkz9P

Applications are NOW OPEN for the 2025-2026 Kidney Health Coach Health Equity Grants! These grants help expand the impact of the Kidney Health Coach program by providing financial support to community organizations and individual coaches, empowering them to host events and spread critical CKD prevention and management messages to at-risk populations. For the 2025-2026 grant cycle, AKF will award: - 52 individual coaches with a $500 grant each - 8 community organizations with a $10,000 grant each - Deadline to apply: Friday, April 25 Application for Kidney Health Coaches: https://lnkd.in/ermWUAtt Application for Community Organizations: https://lnkd.in/etfxNN3P

The FDA has approved Novartis US’s Vanrafia (atrasentan) for the treatment of adults with IgA nephropathy at risk of rapid disease progression to reduce proteinuria. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/exgwYe-M

Exciting Kidney Advocacy Update! On March 25th, the Texas House officially adopted House Resolution HR-58, authored by Representative Tom Oliverson, recognizing March 2025 as Kidney Month in Texas! During the floor proceedings, Rep. Oliverson honored AKF Ambassadors Veronica B., Michelle Osuna, and Ariel Brigham with a special gallery recognition for their advocacy efforts. Earlier that day, Ronni, Michelle, and Ariel, alongside AKF’s Josie Gamez, Associate Director of State Policy and Advocacy, met with Texas representatives to advocate for HR-58 on behalf of the kidney community—witnessing firsthand how their efforts led to real change. AKF extends our heartfelt thanks to Rep. Tom Oliverson and the Texas House for their support in recognizing Kidney Month. This recognition plays a crucial role in raising public awareness, emphasizing early prevention and detection, and advancing policies that improve care and research for chronic kidney disease. A big win for the kidney community! #KidneyAdvocacy #KidneyMonth

#ICYMI 🎉Join us on Thursday, April 24 at RPM Events for A Night Out in Chicago as we celebrate the expansion of the American Kidney Fund’s Living Donor Assistance Program! This special evening will support and celebrate living kidney donors and the remarkable sacrifices they make to the kidney community. 💙 Your support provides grants up to $2,500 to cover expenses insurance doesn’t—just like it did for Robin: "Becoming a donor is a long process and the grant provided me with welcome reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses I had not taken into consideration. Please accept my heartfelt thanks for anticipating a need I had not." – Robin M., past recipient 🎟️ Secure your tickets today

April 29 is APOL1-Mediated Kidney Disease (AMKD) Awareness Day, and we're asking you to become #APOL1Aware. While everyone has 2 copies of the APOL1 gene, people of certain African descent are more likely to have changes (variants) in their APOL1 gene that cause AMKD 🧬 If you’re Black, African American, African, Afro-Caribbean, or Hispanic/Latino and you inherited certain variations of the APOL1 gene, there is a greater chance of having AMKD. This type of kidney disease can develop even at a young age and advance faster than other kidney diseases. Become #APOL1Aware and help build awareness in your community: kidneyfund.org/AMKD-day

Every day, AKF staff provide support to the kidney community. From financial assistance programs and educational initiatives to kidney-friendly meals and camp, we are working to make a real difference for the 1 in 7 Americans living with kidney disease. With AKF, no one faces kidney disease alone. Help us continue our fight for a world without kidney disease, during #KidneyMonth and throughout the year 🫱🏽🫲🏿🩵: https://bit.ly/3ZdwJpe

We're hiring! AKF is looking for an Associate Director of Outreach and Strategic Partnerships to help shape and drive the strategic vision of our outreach programs. In this role, you'll collaborate with internal teams and external partners to develop and implement initiatives that engage patients, healthcare professionals, community organizations, and professional association volunteers. We're seeking a passionate, bilingual (English/Spanish) professional ready to make an impact. Think you’re the right fit? Learn more and apply today: https://bit.ly/4fUICGR

The American Kidney Fund and MAVEN Project are excited to announce a new partnership to support primary care clinicians, helping AKF increase its reach to community physicians, primary care providers and rural health care providers more broadly. AKF and MAVEN Project are committed to addressing challenges surrounding the early identification and treatment of kidney disease and improving access to up-to-date educational resources in community health centers to improve patient outcomes. Learn more about the partnership: https://bit.ly/42a3bdp