The American Heart Association's 2025 national Leaders of Impact campaign concluded with Chicago health information leader Laura Merrick raising more than $380,000 to expand cardiac emergency readiness and hypertension awareness in local communities. Merrick, motivated by her mother's survival of a cardiac arrest due to bystander CPR, focused her seven-week campaign on implementing practical solutions to reduce cardiovascular deaths.
Merrick's initiative will establish blood pressure monitoring hubs in 18 community-based organizations throughout Chicagoland. These hubs provide free access to blood pressure monitors, educational materials on proper self-measurement, interpretation guides for readings, and local medical provider contact lists. The program is implemented through Embracing Community Care, an American Heart Association initiative designed to fund equipment and resources for community health improvement. An automated self-measurement blood pressure kiosk will also be installed in Chicago to teach residents about monitoring and controlling hypertension.
In parallel, the campaign enables 18 Chicago organizations to implement Cardiac Emergency Response Plans. These plans include providing CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training for staff, volunteers, and community members serving on emergency response teams. The American Heart Association, which educates millions in CPR annually, emphasizes that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, according to Heart and Stroke Association Statistics.
Merrick stated her goal is to strengthen readiness in historically underserved communities by advancing CPR and AED access, improving hypertension awareness, expanding blood-pressure monitoring, and helping institutions build emergency plans. She aims to make lifesaving preparedness standard across Chicago, training more people and equipping more places to prevent emergencies from becoming tragedies.
The Leaders of Impact competition involved over 300 local nominees and 1,200 Impact Team members across 72 communities nationwide from September 18 to November 5. Lee A. Shapiro, volunteer chairperson of the American Heart Association, noted that nominees like Merrick have made significant impacts in their communities by spearheading efforts for better heart and brain health. For more information about the campaign and all 2025 nominees, visit leadersofimpact.heart.org.
