Local group of leaders earns national recognition through American Heart Association’s Leaders of Impact™ campaign
Wittney Youngblood honored as winner for Central and Eastern Kentucky, placing in top five nationally

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, December 9, 2024 – Wittney Youngblood of Pikeville has been named the American Heart Association’s 2024 Leaders of Impact™ winner in Central and Eastern Kentucky for her work driving equitable cardiovascular health in the community. Youngblood finished in the top five nationally, becoming one of five participants to be recognized in the Centennial Club for raising more than $100,000. Collectively, she and seven other local leaders raised more than $214,000, and as a result, finished in the top four markets across the nation.

“Wittney and all of our local nominees are making an incredible impact by supporting our mission to ensure people across the Commonwealth, especially in Central and Eastern Kentucky, have a fair chance at living longer, healthier lives,” said Andrea Ooten, Executive Director of the American Heart Association. “Their efforts will strengthen our work to expand access to quality care and address health disparities, helping to build stronger, more vibrant communities for generations to come.”

According to the most recent data confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average life expectancy in Kentucky dropped from 75.3 years in 2018 to 72.3 years in 2021 – the fifth shortest average among all 50 states1. Declines in life expectancy are often caused by social drivers of health, deeply rooted inequities related to public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations and other norms which often reinforce inequities in health.

For Youngblood, a Pikeville Medical Center employee who was also named the Kentucky Woman of Impact™ winner earlier this year, the fight against heart disease is deeply personal.

“This battle of heart disease is not won easily and requires coordinated efforts of a multi-disciplinary team to be victorious,” Youngblood said. “We are all in this battle together, not just in Eastern Kentucky, but throughout the world, for it is a disease that can affect not only you, but anyone. Together we can help with this effort to combat this disease.”

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in Kentucky and the United States.1 In addition, an aging, more diverse population, along with a significant increase in heart disease and stroke risk factors among younger people are expected to nearly triple the nation’s price tag on cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 2050, according to new published projections from the American Heart Association.

For more than 100 years, the American Heart Association has driven change by removing barriers to health, investing in groundbreaking research, educating health care professionals and patients, and advocating for healthy policies. There are currently 30 active AHA-funded research grants in Kentucky totaling $6.8 million. Other dollars are being invested locally around CPR and AED education and awareness, blood pressure control and hypertension initiatives, and our work with hospitals, clinics, and community organizations, to support their efforts with quality programs around blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.

Leaders of Impact launched on Oct. 17 in hundreds of cities across the nation and culminated on Dec. 4. Each nominee’s participation is focused on opportunities to be a changemaker with a shared purpose to raise critical awareness and fund the mission of the American Heart Association.

Other local nominees included:

  • Joy Coles, DNP, APRN, AGACNP-BC, MBA, CCRN, Joy of Nursing (Lexington)
  • Samantha Couch, Big Ass Fans (Richmond)
  • John Lee, MD, Baptist Health – Lexington (Lexington)
  • Mark Mahan, Mahan Multimedia (Versailles)
  • Cristy Sharp, LadyCat Packing & Organizing (Lexington)
  • Krystal Silverthorn, Kentucky Laser Hair Removal (Frankfort)
  • Todd Ziegler, Republic Bank (Lexington)

For more information about Leaders of Impact and a list of all the 2024 nominees, please visit leadersofimpact.heart.org. To learn more about the Association’s local efforts, visit www.heart.org/kentucky.