2026 Go Red for Women Woman of Impact
Driven by Purpose, Focused on Impact
For more than two decades, the American Heart Association’s® Go Red for Women® movement has led the fight against women’s leading cause of death: cardiovascular disease. The initiative works to close critical care gaps in women’s heart health, so fewer women are overlooked, misdiagnosed or left without the care they need.
Cardiovascular disease can impact any woman, at any stage. During key life stages such as adolescence, pregnancy and menopause, women may experience unique events that can increase their risk for heart disease and stroke. Yet women have historically been left out of the research, testing, treatment and funding that shape how cardiovascular disease is prevented, diagnosed and treated.
That is why Go Red for Women is meeting the health and wellness needs of women at every age, every stage and every season of their lives as a trusted, relevant source for credible health solutions. The movement also advances women-centric research and unites women through the power of community. Because when women come together, we are stronger than cardiovascular disease.
From Personal Loss to National Impact: How Anh Phoong Is Championing Women’s Heart Health
When Sacramento-based attorney and community advocate Anh Phoong decided to say “yes” to the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women® Woman of Impact™ campaign, she wasn’t chasing a title. She was honoring her mother.
A few years ago, Phoong’s mom survived a heart attack—an outcome many women never get. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among women, and too often, the warning signs go unrecognized. That reality is what drives the American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone everywhere, to mobilize women leaders nationwide through its Woman of Impact campaign.
“Doing this campaign was my way of honoring my mother,” Phoong says, “and reminding women that we have to take care of ourselves if we want to keep showing up for everyone else.”
That deeply personal motivation carried Phoong through the American Heart Association’s nine-week Woman of Impact campaign, part of the Go Red for Women® movement, and ultimately led her to be named the 2026 National Woman of Impact Winner.
Turning Awareness into Action
Woman of Impact calls on women leaders across the country to mobilize their communities in support of women’s heart health, raising awareness, encouraging healthier habits and supporting critical research, education and advocacy. But for Phoong, the campaign quickly became something bigger than fundraising.
“I called on my sisters—and they showed up,” she says. “This is what women’s empowerment actually looks like. Women are their own best support. When we show up for each other, our impact is bigger.”
Phoong built an Impact Team rooted in shared purpose. Over the campaign, that team worked to spark conversations about heart health, inspire simple lifestyle changes and remind women that prioritizing themselves is not selfish, it’s necessary.
“We do so much for everyone else,” Phoong says. “If we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t keep showing up. It starts early. It doesn’t have to be complicated.”
Her message is practical: go for a walk, make small changes in what you eat, manage stress where you can.
“Small habits add up,” she say. “That’s how we take control of our health.”
Leading with heart
As the 2026 National Woman of Impact Winner, Phoong joins a growing network of volunteers working to close long-standing gaps in awareness, research and care for women. Despite progress, women remain underrepresented in cardiovascular research and underserved in diagnosis and treatment—a reality Go Red for Women is working to change.
For Phoong, the call to action is simple.
“Just. Do. It,” she says. “As an attorney, I always look at the upside versus the downside—and here, there is no downside. However much you raise, it’s going toward something that matters. It’s awareness. It’s education. It’s impact.”
It’s an invitation:
For women to prioritize their health.
To lean on one another.
To lead—together.
Meet the 2026 Woman of Impact Centennial Club
Join us in celebrating our 2026 Woman of Impact Centennial Club nominees! These remarkable leaders embody the spirit of the campaign: taking bold action, inspiring the women around them and driving meaningful change for women's heart health. Through their extraordinary fundraising and commitment to community, they are helping advance the lifesaving mission of the American Heart Association.
