Brady Carballo-Hambleton, Senior Vice President for Ontario & Nunavut at Heart & Stroke, leads the national nonprofit’s efforts to combat heart disease and stroke. With a deep personal connection to the cause, Brady has dedicated his career to improving survival rates and supporting those affected by these conditions. Heart & Stroke, one of Canada’s largest and most impactful health charities, invests in research, advocates for health equity, and offers support to Canadians living with heart disease and stroke.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
I am a member of the senior leadership team at Heart & Stroke: a national nonprofit organization leading the fight to beat heart disease and stroke.
We are one of Canada’s largest and most effective health charities. Since our inception, we’ve invested nearly $1.7 billion in heart disease and stroke research, making us one of the largest contributors in Canada after the federal government.
We also provide people across Canada, including people living with heart disease and stroke and their families and caregivers, with trusted health information and opportunities to connect with others who share their lived experiences.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Our mission is to beat heart disease and stroke, which takes a massive and concerted effort from coast to coast to coast.
Through these efforts, we drive life-saving medical breakthroughs and act as a catalyst to bring together the brightest minds to improve diagnosis, care and support for people living with heart disease and stroke.
Our key priorities include:
· Transforming the stroke system and care
· Improving cardiac arrest survival rates
· Preventing the surge of heart failure
· Championing lifelong care for congenital heart disease
· Closing the gaps in health inequity, including for women, Indigenous peoples and Black communities
· Fighting for healthier generations through advocacy initiatives.
When did you start/join it?
I am what they call a ‘boomerang employee’, meaning I had left at one point and then returned. I initially began working at Heart & Stroke in 2013 and spent five years overseeing our direct marketing program, while also supporting Heart & Stroke’s rebrand back in 2016.
I stepped away in 2018 to take a new national role with the 13 children’s hospital foundations across Canada. It was a role I couldn’t have refused as it gave me so many learning opportunities about everything from technology and analytics to hands-on marketing a brand work to the stakeholder experience.
I returned to Heart & Stroke in my current role in 2022 — it was an exciting opportunity to serve as both a regional leader and a member of the executive team, and it felt like the right time to return.
What made you want to get involved?
In 2011, my mother sadly passed away at the age of 60 after experiencing a very sudden and unforeseen cardiac arrest. After this happened, I spent some time reflecting on what kind of impact I could have on the healthcare system and research community to improve cardiac arrest survival rates.
I was able to join the Heart & Stroke team two years later, which felt like a fitting tribute to my late mother as well as an opportunity to join an extremely well-respected and impactful organization.
In 2015, later in my tenure with Heart & Stroke, my mother-in-law experienced a cardiac arrest while our family was on a cruise to celebrate my in-laws’ 25th wedding anniversary. At the time, we were sailing south along the Atlantic coast from New York and her only option for treatment was to evacuate the ship on a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. Sadly, she did not make it. She was only 62 and had a whole second chapter ahead of her. She had recently retired and was looking forward to spending quality time with her grandchildren and friends.
A big part of what made me want to rejoin Heart & Stroke was the launch of our women’s heart and brain health initiative (among the other important priorities we focus on). Given my family’s lived experience, this was a cause near and dear to my heart and I wanted to be part of the work to drive health equity forward.
What was the situation like when you started?
For me, I experienced a combination of feeling awestruck by the fact that I had landed a role at one of Canada’s largest and most respected health charities, while also feeling a great deal of imposter syndrome given the caliber of people who work for this organization.
How has it changed since?
I am fortunate to still be learning something new every day, and I’m incredibly humbled and honoured to be part of an organization that takes the health and well-being of people in Canada so seriously.
The pandemic was a challenging time for many charities, and Heart & Stroke had to adapt to meet the headwinds that the pandemic posed to the charitable landscape. I’m proud of how we weathered the storm. We’ve fostered so much more collaboration amongst our brilliant teams and it has made the work so much more interesting.
What more needs to be done?
The urgency to beat heart disease and stroke is growing. As Canada’s population ages and more young people are being diagnosed with these conditions, our work is more important than ever.
Many people don’t know that more than 3.5 million people across the country of all ages, ethnicities and genders are living with heart disease, stroke and vascular cognitive impairment.
We are working hard to change these statistics and support from our donors and volunteers is critical to achieving that.
It’s so important for us to continually raise awareness around people’s risks for heart conditions and stroke. More funds to support this work always translate to bigger impact and better outcomes.
We’re also continuing to invest in breakthrough heart and stroke research.
Finally, we’re always in need of highly motivated volunteers to help us champion our cause, guide us with their knowledge and lived experiences, and foster new connections that help drive our mission forward.
How can our readers help?
You can visit heartandstroke.ca to learn as much as you can about our organization and the work we’re doing.
You can also consider how you can support us — or another cause close to your heart — through your time, talents or treasure. And remember: these three things are never mutually exclusive!
Do you have any events coming up?
We’ve been hosting several Facebook challenges that encourage you to get active while supporting a great cause. To learn more about them and to sign up for an upcoming challenge, please visit this page.
Heart & Stroke also has a program called Fundraise Your Way — a ‘choose your own adventure’ approach to fundraising where you can plan any kind of event that appeals to you, either something solo or with your family, friends or colleagues. We’ve seen everything from snowmobiling across a province to knitting challenges. To learn more or to host your own Fundraise Your Way, check out our website.
Where can we follow you?
The best place to find me is on LinkedIn.
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
Oh my goodness, there are far too many here in Toronto and the GTA to mention. I’m going to break convention a bit and go with the rule of threes here:
–The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto
–The South Asian Women’s Centre
