Greetings WomenHeart Community!
On behalf of WomenHeart, I would like to wish you a joyous festive season and all the best for a prosperous 2023.
I also want to send a special thank you to those of you who have supported WomenHeart this year and throughout the years. You have kept our spirits boosted but more importantly, you have supported women living with and at risk of heart disease with your continued financial support. Thank you!
As we head into our holiday celebrations, I'd like to share a few highlights from 2022 and provide a bit of a preview as we look excitedly into the new year with renewed focus and drive.
In May this year, we were so excited to honor Dr. Sharonne Hayes with the establishment of a new award at our Annual Wenger Awards Gala - the Sharonne Hayes Award for Champion Excellence. This will first be awarded in 2023, as we honor and recognize those Champions who have gone above and beyond in their communities to continue to provide support, education and advocacy for those who need it most. In October, we were thrilled that after three years of the pandemic, we were finally able to convene and train a new class of Champions in-person, at our first Science & Leadership Training at the Mayo Clinic since 2019! It was the 20th anniversary of the Symposium where we trained 30 Champions, representing nearly 20 states!
Our Champion Program continues to be the bedrock of WomenHeart where we are able to make a difference in our communities nation-wide. We look forward to expanding this Program as we build on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program in order to contribute to Health Equity. Building off the first year of our DEI work, in 2023 we will utilize survey data from 2022 to bridge the gaps identified to implement impactful ways to enhance our ability to reach a more diverse audience of all types through our communities, educational materials and programming.
Concurrently, as WomenHeart continues to expand our scale, we are looking to reach more women. We have heard loud and clear that women are seeking more effective ways to improve their heart health through actions they can take daily. This is the reason we launched WomenHeart's Everyday Health Initiative, where we will provide a wide range of educational and support services to help women living with and at risk of heart disease. Through this initiative, we will ensure that communities of women have accurate information on prevention, nutrition, exercise, mental health, and proper medical treatment, to live their best lives even when they are living with or at risk of heart disease.
As we prepare to close out the year, my wish is that everyone is able to take a much-deserved rest and reflect on our collective achievements as well as the resilience and optimism that will carry us to a brighter future and a better WomenHeart. This wish is for WomenHeart Champions in particular, as they have put their all into ensuring that women don't face their heart journeys alone.
