By Ella Beames
Community is a core pillar of the American Heart Association (AHA), and nurturing that pillar is how we have built a network of patrons, advocates, and survivors. Community at the American Heart Association is shared passion for the organization’s mission and ambition to elevate its message on local, regional, and national levels.
Caroline Gundeck, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, NYC Woman of Impact Award winner, and a heart attack survivor, is connecting the AHA community with her professional community. Gundeck began a weekly call during the COVID-19 pandemic with a small group of women, but it quickly evolved into an exciting opportunity for personal and professional growth.
Each week, the meeting highlights inspiring women with the goal of empowering members of the community Gundeck has built.
Meg Gilmartin, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the American Heart Association in New York City was the inspiration for CPR Week in June. Gilmartin shared her AHA ‘Why’ with the group, and emphasized the importance women advocating for themselves, and why it is crucial for us to encourage others to do the same.
“Our goal is to increase awareness about what to do and a willingness and confidence in all of you to act in an emergency,” Gilmartin said. “We want to dispel the myths, we want to inspire you to be motivated and committed, and we want you to be a part of this Nation of Lifesavers.”
A portion of the webinar’s education was creating awareness about the struggles women face with heart disease.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women and kills more women than all cancers combined. Unfortunately, in the case of cardiac emergencies, women are less likely to receive bystander CPR, women of color even less so.
Gundeck praised the educational efforts of the American Heart Association, and its devoted attention to women, saying, “I am a survivor because I was educated, and knew the symptoms and I knew what was going on.”
The other element of education was a CPR demonstration led by Melinda Murray-Nyack founder of the Dominick A. Murray 21 Foundation, CPR instructor, and long-time volunteer and advocate for the AHA.
Murray-Nyack is a survivor, too. She survived the deaths of her mother, husband, and only child to heart disease, and is channeling her tragedy into making a difference. She began her foundation in her son’s name and has since been an advocate for CPR and AED awareness, and through the work of her foundation, has trained almost 30,000 people to save lives.
The webinar’s 160+ participants left not just with professional and personal skills, but they left knowing how to save a life, and how to advocate for their own.
Gundeck’s bridging of these two communities embodied that core pillar of the American Heart Association, and because of that there will be more lives saved, and in Murray-Nyack’s poetic words, more birthdays to be had.
Thank you to Caroline Gundeck and Morgan Stanley for creating a space to elevate our message, to Meg Gilmartin for being our fearless leader, and to Melinda Murray-Nyack for always being on the frontlines of this mission.