ALBUQUERQUE, April 22, 2026 - For Martha S. Porter, the fight against heart disease and stroke isn't theoretical - it's personal.
After losing her father to a massive heart attack, watching her mother survive a stroke, supporting her husband through cardiac arrest and managing high blood pressure herself, Porter understands how quickly cardiovascular disease can change a family forever. That lived experience is what drives her volunteer leadership with the American Heart Association and what now brings her to a new role as chair of the 2026 New Mexico Heart Walk and 5K Run, set for Sept.
19. "If by bringing awareness I can save one life, then my volunteer work would have been worth it," Porter said.
Porter is leading a year‑round statewide effort to engage companies, organizations and families in raising lifesaving funds and expanding CPR education, a central focus of this year's Heart Walk campaign. According to the American Heart Association , nine in 10 people who experience cardiac arrest outside the hospital do not survive, and more than half do not receive bystander CPR.
Martha S.
Porter has been named chair of the 2026 New Mexico Heart Walk and 5K Run, scheduled for Sept.
19 at Avanyu Plaza at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque.
The announcement frames her appointment as rooted in direct personal experience with cardiovascular disease: Porter experienced the loss of her father to a massive heart attack, witnessed her mother survive a stroke, supported her husband through cardiac arrest, and manages her own hypertension.
Those events are presented as motivating forces behind her volunteer work with the American Heart Association (AHA) and informed her decision to accept the leadership role for the statewide Heart Walk campaign.
Porter is described as leading a year‑round, statewide initiative intended to engage employers, community organizations, and families to both raise funds and expand public education in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The 2026 Heart Walk campaign emphasizes CPR education as a central priority; the AHA materials cited in the source note that most out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrests result in death and that a majority of victims do not receive bystander CPR.
The source reiterates the AHA’s position that immediate CPR can substantially increase chances of survival, and it records Porter’s personal account that her family’s situation was affected by a lack of bystander training.
The Heart Walk is characterized in the source as the AHA’s principal community‑facing event, intended to unite businesses, survivors, volunteers and community members around physical activity, fundraising for research, and efforts to increase equitable access to heart‑healthy education and resources.
Under Porter’s leadership the New Mexico program plans to sustain a focus on creating “a community of lifesavers,” defined in the source as neighbors prepared to act prior to emergency responders’ arrival.
The event is also positioned as an organizational vehicle for workplace wellness and team building, with Porter emphasizing the opportunity for employers to demonstrate commitment to both employee health and community wellbeing.
Porter is presented as a longtime New Mexico banking professional with more than three decades of experience, currently employed at UMB Bank.
Her career history as summarized in the source includes roles from teller to associate national bank examiner.
The profile highlights her statewide reputation for leadership and civic engagement.
It also notes prior service on the AHA–New Mexico board of directors in 2022 and documents her return to the board in 2025 with a stated renewed emphasis on health equity.
A quote attributed to Suzanne Mirabal of the AHA–New Mexico board characterizes Porter’s local ties and personal experience as assets for the organization’s mission and endorses her as an appropriate leader for the Heart Walk.
The source lists the date and venue for the 2026 Heart Walk and 5K Run and indicates that hundreds of participants are expected to attend.
Two sponsors are named: Delta Dental of New Mexico and Presbyterian Health.
Practical information for interested companies and individuals is supplied in the source, including a contact person (Sherri Wells) with an email address and a registration website (NewMexicoHeartWalk.org).
The source states that funds raised in the campaign will remain in New Mexico.
The article references AHA statistics regarding survival and bystander CPR rates for out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest, summarizing the organization’s position that most people who experience such events do not survive and that more than half do not receive bystander CPR.
It restates the AHA’s assertion that immediate CPR can double or triple survival chances.
These data and statements are attributed to the American Heart Association as presented in the source; the summary does not expand on the underlying studies or primary data.
Porter is quoted expressing a desire that awareness activities save lives and frames the Heart Walk as both an occasion for community gathering and a means of increasing awareness and fundraising.
The source highlights Porter’s view of the event as an opportunity for employers to engage employees in a heart‑healthy activity and to demonstrate support for the AHA’s mission.
The source does not provide detailed empirical metrics for the New Mexico campaign (for example, baseline CPR training coverage in the state, targeted numbers for trained lay rescuers, precise fundraising goals, or quantified projected impact).
It does not report specific programmatic methods for scaling CPR training, nor does it present outcome data from prior Heart Walks in New Mexico that would allow assessment of effect on bystander CPR rates or survival.
The summary relies on organizational assertions (AHA statistics and Porter’s goals) as presented; primary evidence for epidemiologic claims or for the effectiveness of the planned interventions is not included in the source.
The article frames the 2026 Heart Walk as a vehicle for community mobilization around cardiovascular health, CPR education, and fundraising, led by a locally rooted volunteer with personal experience of cardiovascular disease.
For organizations and community members interested in participation, registration and a point of contact are provided in the source.
The AHA’s broader mission and organizational credentials are summarized, including its self‑description as an entity focused on research funding, advocacy, public education, and equitable health initiatives; however, the source does not detail how New Mexico funds will be allocated across specific programs.