Photo Provided The American Heart Association Woman of Impact Campaign kicks off Friday after five women were selected as nominees to spread awareness of women’s heart health. Seated in front are Lori Bertus-Whaley, left, and Spencer Porter. Behind them, from left, are Noelle Adams-Lohri, Gretchen Kessler and Amanda Brown.

THE AMERICAN Heart Association is bringing heart health awareness to the Ohio Valley this February, American Heart Month, through its Woman of Impact campaign 2025.

The campaign kicks off today. The nominees represent the association by spreading women’s heart health awareness.

The Woman of Impact campaign is a fundraising and impact point campaign in which nominees get out in the community and share information about women’s heart health and the disparities that women face, whether it comes to research or standard CPR, according to development coordinator Lauren Thomas.

“They’re bringing awareness to the community, as well as fundraising for the American Heart Association,” she said.

The effort is a nine-week campaign that kicks off at 9 a.m. today and runs until 9 p.m. April 10. The five women who were selected for the campaign are Noelle Adams-Lohri, Gretchen Kessler, Amanda Brown, Lori Bertus-Whaley and Spencer Porter.

The nominees will each have their own teams of friends, family members and loved ones who will join them throughout the campaign. Thomas described it as a major awareness and fundraising drive. Nominees will do different events each week, such as CPR activities and other activities to push information out about heart disease and stroke.

Today is National Wear Red Day, which is to bring awareness to women’s heart health. The American Heart Association has a campaign called “Go Red for Women,” and Woman of Impact is an extension of that.

“We’re really trying to be a driving force in promoting research specifically on women for heart health,” Thomas said.

Thomas said heart disease is the number one killer of women and all Americans, and one in three women will die from cardiovascular disease.

She added that it’s really important for the American Heart Association to raise awareness and get research done so people know about differences between men and women when it comes to cardiovascular disease, signs people can look for and ways to try to prevent it.

Although the American Heart Association is a nationwide nonprofit organization, Thomas thinks it’s important to bring awareness to the Ohio Valley because, in rural areas such as this, factors that can cause heart disease are more prevalent. These include smoking, diabetes that can often be prevented with diet and exercise, and not getting enough sleep.

“For us, heart disease doesn’t have to be the death sentence, and now we’re completely capable of preventing it from happening to us and our loved ones,” Thomas said.