Woman Philanthropists: Anna Jaworski of Hearts Unite the Globe On How To Leave A Lasting Legacy With A Successful Nonprofit Organization
An Interview With Vanessa Morcom
Passion — Without passion, it’s impossible to ignite a spark in others to drive them to want to be part of something as nebulous as a nonprofit.
Vision — Our vision is a world where everyone in the CHD and bereaved communities have the support they need.
The contributions of women philanthropists have reshaped communities and catalyzed change, yet their stories often remain untold. Women bring unique perspectives and approaches to philanthropy, using their resources, networks, and influence to address a wide range of global challenges — from education and healthcare to social justice and environmental sustainability. How do these women navigate the complexities of philanthropy to achieve meaningful impact? In this interview series, we are talking to diverse women philanthropists who have initiated impactful projects or led significant charitable endeavors, to share their insights and inspire others to take initiative and help solve pressing global and local issues. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Jaworski.
Anna Jaworski is a pioneering philanthropist dedicated to transforming the lives of individuals affected by congenital heart defects. As the founder of Hearts Unite the Globe and Baby Hearts Press, she has created platforms that amplify the voices of heart warriors (people born with heart defects), families, and healthcare professionals, while also providing resources, support, and a sense of community. Through her impactful projects and charitable endeavors, Anna aims to inspire others to make a lasting difference in addressing global and local issues.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about a ‘top of mind’ topic. Our readers would like to get to know you a bit better. Can you please tell us about one or two life experiences that most shaped who you are today?
Thank you for giving me this opportunity. When I was 9 years old, in 1969, schools didn’t have handicapped children in regular classrooms. All of that was about to change. My teacher showed the class a film about children with disabilities and that day, I came home and announced to my mother that I wanted to be a teacher for children with disabilities. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher because I was a daddy’s girl and my father was a math teacher. When I went to high school, they started a brand new program for talented-and-gifted students. In the first semester of that class, our teacher told us to identify a project we wanted to study in-depth and then we would have to report to the class what we’d learned later that year. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to teach the deaf or the blind so determining that became my project. Being visually impaired myself, I found that I couldn’t work with people with that disability without feeling pity and I knew that wouldn’t be helpful. I threw myself into learning about teaching the deaf, even taking a sign language course in the evenings for public school bus drivers and arranging a visit to our local elementary school’s deaf education program. The biggest challenge I set for myself was to learn 100 signs so I could visit Texas School for the Deaf for an entire day. The minute I set foot on that campus, I knew I’d made the right decision. Studying sign language and working with the deaf changed who I was forever and taught me the importance of advocacy, how important it is to never underestimate anyone, and the importance of community for the well-being and mental health of those living with a chronic condition.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? We would love to hear a few stories or examples.
I believe my communication skills and my ability to bring people together to work for a common cause are two of the most essential traits that have helped me stay the course for the last ten years.
My organization, Hearts Unite the Globe, provides resources to the congenital heart defect (CHD) community through its website and podcasts. It’s too much work for one person to do alone but through networking and bringing a community together, we have been able to provide over 500 podcast episodes over the last 10 years to people all over the world. This was a tremendous task because we needed hosts, producers, sound engineers, scriptwriters, and — very importantly — guests! Before we had a podcast (and what drew a producer from VoiceAmerica to me), we had a website. For many years, fellow heart mom, Sue Dove was our volunteer webmaster. Brenda Vignaroli, another heart mom, took over when Sue decided to step down. These two women were instrumental in helping me provide resources to the CHD community and helped me start to bring together our community. When the podcast came to be, I immediately knew who I wanted as guests for the first few shows. Initially, I had VoiceAmerica helping in all the roles but hosting, but when their fees exceeded our budget, I decided to go it on my own. That’s when I reached out to my community and I felt so blessed when people stepped up and offered to help out. Together, we created the podcast episodes we wanted to hear.
The third character trait that was most instrumental to my success was adaptability and continuous learning. I went from having VoiceAmerica taking care of the production of the podcast to handling it myself. Therefore I needed to learn production skills and marketing skills. Discovering the Podcast Movement Conference was a game changer for me because I found a new community of peers and mentors to help me learn more about podcasting.
What’s the most interesting discovery you’ve made since you started leading your organization?
I think it’s fascinating how everything I’ve ever learned has helped me in what I’m doing today. I truly believe that God had a plan for me greater than anything I could have come up with on my own. In high school, when I earned the right to go to Texas School for the Deaf, my visit culminated in meeting with the principal of the school. When I shared with her my desire to become a teacher of the deaf, she surprised me by saying, “Teachers of the deaf are a dime a dozen. You need to study speech pathology, physical therapy or occupational therapy first and then become a teacher of the deaf. You may someday get married and your husband and you may live in a town where there is no school for the deaf and you won’t have a job. If you study one of these other fields, and then become a teacher of the deaf, you’ll always have a job.”
Honestly, hearing those words left me a bit deflated, but didn’t change my determination to attain my goal. I studied speech pathology at Our Lady of the Lake University and my first professor in that field was instrumental in helping me attain a graduate assistantship later at the University of Texas at Austin for a brand new program they were developing integrating 3 fields — speech pathology, audiology, and deaf education, in order to provide children with hearing impairments the best opportunities for success. Later, when my baby had a partially paralyzed diaphragm and completely paralyzed vocal cords, I employed everything I learned in studying speech pathology to help my baby learn to speak again. We also employed sign language as a bridge to communication. Today, even though I’m not working with those populations, I’m still using many of the skills I developed early on to help me be a successful leader.
Can you please tell our readers more about how you or your organization intends to make a significant social impact?
Most people don’t realize that congenital heart defects are the #1 birth defect world wide. There are over 42 different kinds of CHDs but they are invisible. Hearts Unite the Globe aims to make the world aware of heart defects while we also empower, educate, and enrich the lives of members of the CHD and bereaved communities. It’s all about advocacy, having a platform to share stories, and identifying ways we can bring people and the resources they need together. We do this through an extensive resource guide on our website and our podcasts. We believe that by sharing these resources, we can empower our community to make a difference and to help others understand what CHDs are and the impact the CHD community can have on the world.
What makes you feel passionate about this cause more than any other?
Having an adult child who was born with a heart defect and who has defied the odds time and time again makes me a logical leader in this community. When Hope’s CHD was diagnosed were, “If she were my child, I’d take her home for what little time she has left.” The year was 1994 and there weren’t many options for children like my daughter. The surgeon went on to say, “There is an experimental procedure, but only one in four babies who survive the first of three scheduled surgeries live to the age of five.” I knew that doing nothing was a certain death sentence. The fact that my child turns 30 years of age in August keeps me passionate about providing a picture of hope for others.
Without naming names, could you share a story about an individual who benefitted from your initiatives?
I never thought my efforts could literally save a life — in Africa! One day I received an email from a heart mom in Africa pleading for help for her 10-year-old son. In the email, she told me that she’d found me on the Internet and she didn’t know where else to turn. There were no hospitals treating children with complex CHDs in Africa and as a single mother, she had very limited resources. This email came shortly after I had broadcast two different episodes featuring two gentlemen from Africa who were working to help their countrymen. I reached out to these men and they chose to help this mother. We all kept in touch with one another and overcame many obstacles until I finally got word that a charity was bringing the child to Dallas for life-saving surgery! I drove from Central Texas to a hospital in Dallas to meet the mother and child I’d been communicating with for months. To me, this experience underscored the significance of community, the philanthropy of many hearts around the world, and the importance of doing God’s work for I truly believe none of that would have been possible without some divine intervention.
We all want to help and to live a life of purpose. What are three actions anyone could take to help address the root cause of the problem you’re trying to solve?
We are always looking for volunteers who want to help us in our efforts and, while donations are certainly valuable, volunteers who give their time and talents to the cause are priceless. The root of the problem, of course, is that people are still being born with congenital heart defects, and thanks to technology, they are living longer than ever before which means we are now encountering new problems because we have an aging population! We need money for research; we need the ability to inform our community about new surgical procedures, medications, and studies that are being conducted that can enhance people’s lives today and in the future; and we need people who will give their time, effort, and money to help world leaders understand the significance of CHDs and what they can do to help.
Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Create A Successful & Effective Nonprofit That Leaves A Lasting Legacy?” Please share a story or example for each.
1 . Passion — Without passion, it’s impossible to ignite a spark in others to drive them to want to be part of something as nebulous as a nonprofit.
At a Toastmasters meeting, I gave a speech about my nonprofit organization. I shared some stories about what we’ve done and what needs to be done. I also shared how I needed people with other skills and talents to help me take my nonprofit to the next level. One of my fellow Toastmasters was a lawyer. After hearing my speech, even though he didn’t have anyone in his family with a CHD, he offered to be on my Board. He later became the President of the Board, and during his tenure, it was discovered that one of his family members had a CHD and needed surgery. After that, he became even more passionate about helping the nonprofit because he understood the value of what we did beyond a philosophical stance.
2 . Vision — Our vision is a world where everyone in the CHD and bereaved communities have the support they need.
In the early days of my podcast, Heart to Heart with Anna, I realized that to have a global impact, we had to have some episodes in other languages. We knew heart defects happened all over the globe, but not everyone knows English. I sought guests who were bilingual and volunteers who were bilingual who could help me. Because of these efforts, Heart to Heart with Anna has episodes in Spanish, French, Norwegian, Dutch, Hebrew, and Italian. Perhaps more importantly, we developed a podcast for the Spanish-speaking CHD community — Guerreros Del Corazón.
3 . Communication — If a nonprofit does not have effective communication skills, their good works go unnoticed.
While I believe the example I gave about the mother from Africa exemplifies this belief, I’ll share another. After I broadcast an episode with a mother who talked about her son’s feeding issues and the need for a feeding tube, I got an email from a heart dad. The episode featured two guests — a mother and the professional from a company in Europe who helped the mother wean her child from a feeding tube. The heart dad wrote to me telling me how no one had ever talked about a exit strategy for his child to wean from the feeding tube. They had a kangaroo pump that provided continuous feeds for their failure-to-thrive child. After listening to that episode, they were able to develop an action plan to help their son wean from his feeding tube and they could finally resume more normal activities as a family — without having extraneous equipment in tow.
4 . Advocacy — To advocate for others in your community and to inspire them to become advocates on their own is a way to make sure your message continues even after you are long gone.
In the last 30 years, I’ve witnessed many nonprofit organizations come and go in our space. The ones who have grown the largest and had the greatest staying power are the ones who are the strongest advocates. In 2009, I attended a Lobby Day with the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) and members of many other smaller nonprofits in Washington, D.C. We all worked together to make the Congenital Heart Futures Act become a reality. Senators Dick Durbin and Thad Cochran spearheaded this initiative. Having members of the CHD community come from all over the USA to talk to their representatives in office made a great impact and I believe it contributed to its successful outcome, which is good because after that, we had to come together to get funding for the act and we’re coming together again for the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act of 2024. Singly, we can make small changes in our corner of the world, but by joining forces together, we have a chance to leave a lasting legacy.
5 . Adaptability — The world is ever-changing. New technology and discoveries are being made all the time. The technology used to communicate, collect donations, and develop meaningful projects is also dynamic and exciting.
When I first started my nonprofit, long before I filed with the US government to be a 501(c)3, I started advocating by writing and publishing books — which is how Baby Hearts Press was born. Almost twenty years later, it was clear that simply publishing books and spreading information in printed form was not reaching enough people. After talking with my husband, an accountant, and others in the CHD community, we decided we needed a nonprofit and we needed to do more to make information freely available to everyone. We started with a website and then we had one podcast. Now we have multiple podcasts. If we hadn’t adapted to changes in technology, we would have missed opportunities to help others around the world.
How has the pandemic changed your definition of success?
I don’t believe the pandemic changed my definition of success, but it certainly impacted the CHD and bereaved communities in ways I don’t believe most people could have predicted. The importance of community was certainly underscored when people were not allowed to visit others in the hospital or at events for the bereaved and CHD communities. Most in-person events were canceled. We had to learn to be creative and adapt to a new world that finally understood many of the concerns about germs, viruses, and contagions that the CHD community has known from the beginning. There was no joy in seeing everyone else have to be as conscious of the fragility of life as we have been, but since the pandemic, I believe the world at-large has a better understanding of some of the nuances that come with living with a chronic condition.
How do you get inspired after an inevitable setback?
That is an excellent question because setbacks are inevitable and when dealing with a chronically-ill community, the setbacks are often heartbreaking. During the third season of my podcast, a man reached out to me on Facebook after hearing me say we lived in the same state. He enjoyed the podcast and wanted to be part of it. We met in person, then he was a guest on my podcast, but ultimately, he did so much more. He became my Producer, a Sound Engineer, and my right arm. But he was born with a serious heart condition and had had two open-heart surgeries and the implantation of many pacemakers (or new batteries in his pacemaker) over the course of his life. When he died, I went to Connecticut to be with his mother for the funeral. This was when the pandemic was in the news and already, we were feeling the impact of the seriousness of the virus. Many members of the CHD community wanted to be at the funeral, but they couldn’t attend. I used my smartphone to provide Facebook Live coverage of the funeral. Some of David’s family members were also unable to attend, but because I had the ability to be there and to broadcast it, everyone had a chance to watch it live (or the recording) and we all felt we could stand in solidarity for the remaining members of David’s family, especially his mother.
I wondered how I would recover from losing this friend, volunteer, and inspiration. Having someone in his 50s working with me was another reminder of how much members of the CHD community had to offer the world, even if they couldn’t work full-time at some jobs they wished they could. In the end, I felt that the many lessons I learned from David would be lost if I didn’t continue our work. New volunteers have come forward and the cycle of life is evident in my nonprofit. Keeping our vision and mission uppermost in my mind helps me stay focused and driven to continue regardless of setbacks and disappointments. And now I have another angel on my shoulder helping me find my way.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world who you would like to talk to, to share the idea behind your non-profit? He, she, or they might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Yes. Michael Dell of Dell Computers has donated money to build a children’s hospital in Round Rock and he has created a wonderful pediatric cardiology program there. Before this, our children had to go to Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio for their surgeries. In my child’s case, we had to drive over 3 hours for her surgeries. I would love to talk to Mr. Dell to thank him for bringing a state-of-the-art pediatric cardiology program to Central Texas and to let him know what it means to families like mine.
You’re doing important work. How can our readers follow your progress online?
Our website is https://www.heartsunitetheglobe.org and we have a blog there but the best way to keep up with our progress is for them to listen to our podcasts. Heart to Heart with Anna is broadcast weekly and is our flagship podcast.
Thank you for a meaningful conversation. We wish you continued success with your mission.
Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity. I’m grateful for the chance to share some of the amazing things our nonprofit has done and am eager to see what the future holds for the CHD and bereaved communities.
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Morcom is a millennial mom of three and founder of Morcom Media, a performance PR shop for thought leaders. She earned her degree in journalism and worked for Canada’s largest social enterprise. She can be reached at vanessa@morcom.media
Woman Philanthropists: Anna Jaworski of Hearts Unite the Globe On How To Leave A Lasting Legacy… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.