Marie Marquardt
Marie Marquardt is an Audit Managing Director at KPMG. She is a member of KPMG’s Abilities in Motion (AIM) National Advisory Board whose mission is to foster an environment that supports partners and employees who have a disability, or who have a child or other dependent with special needs, as they build their careers at KPMG. She and her husband, Bill, have 2 kids in college. As a teenager, Marie was diagnosed with lupus that lead to renal failure when she was 19. After 2 years of dialysis treatment, while attending college full-time, Marie received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. Despite the average life of 7 years, her kidney transplant lasted 21 years. After going back on dialysis for a year, Marie received another kidney transplant from a living donor 10 years ago with the help of research protocol. Throughout the years, Marie has had joint replacements to both of her hips and knees and an ankle fusion, due to cartilage loss from the side effects of the medication she has had to take. Last year additional side effects of long-term medication brought on multiple sclerosis and skin cancer that Marie has been able to manage through a good diet and change in lifestyle.
In addition to her involvement with Disability:IN, Marie serves as an Ambassador to LifeSource Donate Life, a nonprofit organ procurement organization that serves more than 7 million people in the upper Midwest. As an Ambassador, Marie shares her story within the community to educate and encourage people to register as organ, eye and tissue donors. Having experienced the challenges of living with a disability for most of her life, Marie’s passion lies in helping to promote diversity, equity and inclusion so that people with disabilities can have the same opportunities to achieve their fullest potential in a culture and business world that fosters inclusion.