I’m excited to be on the Impact Team for Dr. Donna L. Wilson, who is in a competition to be a Woman of Impact this year for the American Heart Association.
I’ve known Donna most of my years in Colorado and first met her when she worked at the Kempe Center at Colorado Children’s Hospital, where I was giving a talk on childhood sexual abuse and its impacts on adult survivors.
Donna stood out in that presentation because she asked about equity and access for survivors in communities of color. I immediately recognized that she was someone I needed to know. Fast forward, and she has been a game changing member on the Board of Wings (an organization I serve), supporting adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse – for going on three terms.
Donna's career has been dedicated to prioritizing the safety and healing of children and families. She remains steadfast in her values, ensuring that all work is approached through an equity lens—one that acknowledges historical and cultural trauma and drives systemic change to prevent its repetition.
Donna is a woman of faith; a prayerful wife and partner to her husband, Tony; a fierce mamma bear to her beloved children, Taylor, TJ, and Tyler; and now Gram-Gram to her first granddaughter, Aubrey Grace. She says YES to living the biggest, boldest life she desires, and she has been a tireless champion for many important causes that need more attention.
She is giving her leadership focus now to the American Heart Association to shine a light on the fact that heart disease is a leading women’s health issue, in fact the number one cause of death for women (which 44% of us don’t even realize).
Because of how I know Donna, I also want to shine a light on the fact that many women likely have these stressors on their hearts due to many complicated factors they have navigated throughout their lives – often starting in their girlhood. In our culture, this can and does include violence, abuse and trauma. “Exposure to trauma and other adverse experiences during childhood increases lifelong risk for cardiovascular disease and death… new research shows.” This compounds over time, due to the pressures put on females throughout our lives, which mainstream culture often fails to recognize – and our current political climate threatens to worsen.
You can help ensure that women’s health and cardiovascular health remain a needed focus for this generation and ALL generations to come by making a donation to AHA today on my page for Team Donna! Together, women supporting women will create the world we desire. Let’s claim it!
To learn more:
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2020/04/28/traumatic-childhood-increases-lifelong-risk-for-heart-disease-early-death
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