Nancy Brown

Company: American Heart AssociationTitle: Chief Executive OfficerIndustry: Non-profitNotable in 2024: Brown launched the AHA's Go Red for Women venture fund, investing $75 million in startups taking women's health solutions to market and addressing a pervasive lack of study, funding and treatment of women's health issues.

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered sudden cardiac arrest during a "Monday Night Football" game in January 2023, millions of Americans saw firsthand what is called the chain of survival — the series of critical steps taken immediately after someone suffers a cardiac emergency.

Hamlin received CPR and was delivered an electric shock to his heart from an automated external defibrillator and then was administrated further care from medical professionals, ultimately saving his life and allowing for his return to the NFL later that year.

But many others are not so lucky. Each year, more than 350,000 people in the U.S. experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital. Roughly nine out of 10 of those people die, in part because they do not receive immediate CPR — for every minute without CPR, the chance of survival drops 10%.

As CEO of the American Heart Association since 2008, Nancy Brown has been a staunch advocate for advancing health and longer, healthier lives. Working with Hamlin as an ambassador, Brown and the AHA launched the Nation of Lifesavers movement, aiming to double the survival rate from cardiac arrest by 2030 through education around CPR and AEDs. That led the AHA to teach CPR at the Super Bowl experience last year, and all of the NFL teams hosted events for fans throughout the season.

The AHA joined the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA and others in launching The Smart Health Sports Coalition, which advocates for all states to adopt new policies to prevent fatal outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest among high school students. More than 23,000 people under the age of 18 experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year, AHA data shows, with nearly 40% being sports related.

That's just one of the many ways that Brown established the AHA as the global authority on cardiovascular and brain health, as well as overall health. Now with 3,500 staff and 40 million volunteers, the AHA manages $1.2 billion in annual revenue.

But perhaps more importantly, the AHA has used those resources to invest $6 billion in health research since 1949, more than any U.S. organization except the federal government, while helping to cut death rates from cardiovascular diseases in half.

The AHA celebrated its centennial anniversary last year, and in a speech, Brown highlighted not only the successes of the past but the position the AHA finds itself in going forward thanks in part to her leadership.

"We are a science organization. We are a public advocacy organization. We are a community organization, and we have a brand that is positively recognized by over 90% of the American public. And boy, when you put all of that together, nothing can stop us," Brown said.