LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 22, 2026 - Sam Kamran has been named the Central Arkansas 2026 Woman of Impact, leading a group of local changemakers who raised awareness and critical funds to help end heart disease and stroke, the leading cause of death in women. She is a digital marketing consultant for The Marketing Broker.
Kamran earned the title through the American Heart Association's Woman of Impact™ initiative, a nine-week, high-energy campaign aligned with the national Go Red for Women® movement. The initiative challenges participants to mobilize their networks, champion women's heart health and drive measurable impact through fundraising, education and community engagement.
"Sam Kamran and every one of our Woman of Impact nominees showed what's possible when passionate leaders step forward for women's health," said Nikki Smith, executive director of the American Heart Association-Central Arkansas. "Women's heart health has been underrecognized for too long.
These leaders are accelerating change by funding research, expanding education and bringing women's heart health to the forefront." Campaigns officially launched on National Wear Red Day®, Feb. 6,.
The initiative operates as a nine-week, high-energy campaign aligned with Go Red for Women, seeking to mobilize networks, promote women’s heart health, and generate measurable impact through fundraising, education, and community engagement.
The formal launch occurred on National Wear Red Day, February 6, with the campaign concluding on April 9.
The measure of success reported is fundraising support and public engagement rather than clinical outcomes.
The designation places Kamran among local nominees who together aimed to raise awareness and funds to combat heart disease and stroke, described as the leading cause of death in women.
The program emphasizes leadership in women’s heart health, education, and fundraising as pathways to broader impact.
It also notes that nearly 45% of women aged 20 and older have some form of cardiovascular disease, and that more than 80% of heart events are preventable through lifestyle changes, early detection, and education.
These figures contextualize the public health significance of the campaign, though the source does not provide primary data or study results for these numbers.
They promoted preventive care elements including awareness of blood pressure numbers and recognition of warning signs for heart attack and stroke.
The campaign’s operational aim is to fund cardiovascular research, education, and community programs through these activities.
It implies that public-facing fundraising and education activities are central components of the overall strategy to reduce cardiovascular risk in women, though no direct clinical outcomes or programmatic efficacy data are provided.
It also does not provide methodological details of how success was measured beyond qualitative descriptions of fundraising, education, and engagement.
The broader effects on population-level risk reduction or subsequent health behaviors among participants are not reported.
What specific educational materials or programs were implemented locally, and how were participants recruited?
Were there any follow-up measures to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, or preventive practices among the local community?