A fulfilling career means different things to different people. For some, it's the opportunity to do extraordinary work or to develop challenging new skill sets. For others, it's the ability to make a difference in people's lives or to take on growing levels of responsibility and leadership.
However you define your professional goals, at the American Heart Association, you have the opportunity to achieve them. Because we're as passionate about our employees as we are about our mission. And we're as forward-thinking about our professional development as we are about our world-class programs and community outreach.
The American Heart Association is dedicated to being an employer that honors and rewards your impact on advancing our mission. Each day, you invest your talent in a way that is true, positive, heroic and committed in building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. This unique culture – one where employees honor their roles as stewards for the organization's enduring mission – is at the heart of the American Heart Association's tradition of excellence.
It's Excellence - Performance and Recognition
The American Heart Association features a comprehensive approach to performance management and recognition. We recognize both individual and collaborative achievements that are aligned with organizational goals to advance our mission.
Individual performance is defined more broadly than the achievement of quantitative metrics. It includes active participation in personal and professional development, sharing expertise and experience through coaching and mentoring of colleagues and deliberate collaboration across functional areas to advance our mission.
Managers are partners in the success of the employees and, together, foster an environment where performance feedback is continuously shared and formally reviewed at least twice each year.
Recognition for individual and team achievements is provided spontaneously through local, affiliate and association-wide programs.
It's Potential - Professional Development
The American Heart Association nurtures professional development through effectively integrating responsibilities of the organization, managers and individuals in career planning and growth aligned with organizational goals. Programs are designed for employees to have knowledge of and access to the learning resources, people and experiences to grow and develop including:
American Heart University
Position specific learning and cross-functional development
Coaching and peer resources
Mentoring
Diversity
Succession management
Leadership and management development
Key positions
Focused development with high performing/high potential employees
It's Satisfaction - Work Life Satisfaction
The American Heart Association honors our responsibility in supporting professional development and personal satisfaction. In addition to the benefits and programs offered that provide tools, resources and support to employees to enhance our personal lives, the AHA is committed to encouraging employees to walk the talk in prioritizing personal health, wellness and fulfillment.
A pioneering group of physicians and social workers formed the first Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease in New York City in 1915. They were concerned about the lack of heart disease information. At that time, heart disease patients were considered doomed, limited to complete bed rest. So these physicians conducted studies in New York City and Boston to find out whether heart disease patients could safely return to work. Similar groups in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago evolved into heart associations in the 1920s.
Interest spread widely in other cities across the United States and Canada. Recognizing the need for a national organization to share research findings and promote further study, six cardiologists representing several groups founded the American Heart Association in 1924. The founding members were Drs. Lewis A. Conner and Robert H. Halsey of New York; Paul D. White of Boston; Joseph Sailer of Philadelphia; Robert B. Preble of Chicago; and Hugh D. McCulloch of St. Louis. Drs. James B. Herrick of Chicago and William S. Thayer of Baltimore were also instrumental in the early planning. Dr. White, president of the AHA in 1941, once described the early years as a time of "almost unbelievable ignorance" about heart disease. The early efforts of the American Heart Association to overcome that ignorance included enlisting help from hundreds, then thousands, of physicians and scientists.
By the late 1930s, AHA members began considering ways to expand their activities to reach the general public. In 1946 the American Legion donated $50,000 to the AHA for research and to develop a community rheumatic fever program. Public support and funds established this and other programs. To broaden its scope, the AHA reorganized in 1948 and brought in non-medical volunteers with skills in business management, communication, public education, community organization and fund raising.
The American Heart Association made its public debut in late 1948 during a network radio contest, "The Walking Man," on the "Truth or Consequences" program hosted by Ralph Edwards. Millions of Americans sent contributions to the AHA along with guesses on the walking man's identity. The effort netted $1.75 million before Jack Benny was identified as the "Walking Man."
A small national staff in New York City then began to organize American Heart Association divisions across the country. They launched the first national fund-raising campaign the following year in February 1949, raising $2.7 million.
The American Heart Association's Growth
Since 1949, the American Heart Association has grown rapidly in size, financial resources, involvement with medical and non-medical volunteers, and influence -- both nationally and internationally. The AHA moved the National Center from New York City to Dallas in 1975 to better serve affiliates and local divisions nationwide. The volunteer-led affiliates and their divisions form a national network of local AHA organizations involved in providing research, education, and community programs and in raising money to support the association's work. The network continues to gain strength as it expands at the grass-roots level.
The AHA completed significant internal changes between 1980 and 1986, allowing it to reach the public with a louder, clearer voice. During the next eight years, the association became a much more visible champion of public health. The AHA also developed guidelines for the nation's healthcare system and supported the federal government's attempt to improve access to healthcare.
At the same time, the AHA continued to strengthen its internal programs and its internal management. The association revised its mission statement and focused its planning in three areas: cardiovascular science, cardiovascular education and community programs, and fund raising efforts. Achievements included stricter research standards, new healthcare site modules, and development of several new cookbooks. Large gifts allowed the AHA to support new research projects, move all scientific staff into one building, and sponsor creative professional education programs. Efforts to include more women and minorities in the leadership ranks began to pay off by the late 1980s, resulting in more efforts to understand the effects of heart disease and stroke on women and minorities.
The mid-1990s were a time of great change in the American Heart Association. The association's scientific findings began to move more quickly from laboratories and clinics to physician's offices and American households. The AHA took positions on important issues and made clear, simple statements about controlling risk factors. Volunteers and staff agreed on a strategy for improving affiliate research programs, and the national organization created new divisions dealing with stroke and emergency cardiac care. To reduce costs and increase international circulation, the association outsourced the publication of its scientific journals and began publishing them online.
Despite strong opposition from the tobacco industry, the American Heart Association continued to be an advocate for the American public, especially children.
Finally, and most profoundly, AHA volunteers and staff began transforming the organization into an enterprise that could be vibrant and relevant in the 21st century. The change was deeper than anything since 1948, when the AHA transformed itself from a scientific society into a voluntary health agency. The first step was in identifying the organization's strategic driving force in March 1995: Providing credible heart disease and stroke information for effective prevention and treatment.
Agreement on the driving force made it clear that individual Americans, not the AHA's affiliates, were the National Center's primary audience. The new driving force altered the whole organization, which can be seen in the decision to become a single corporation in June 1997. This action reinforced the spirit of cooperation that people brought to the effort.
The American Heart Association is dedicated to being an employer that honors and rewards your impact on advancing our mission. Each day, you invest your talent in a way that is true, positive, heroic and committed in building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. This unique culture – one where employees honor their roles as stewards for the organization's enduring mission – is at the heart of the American Heart Association's tradition of excellence.
Excellence - Potential - Satisfaction
The American Heart Association features a comprehensive approach to performance management and recognition. We recognize both individual and collaborative achievements that are aligned with organizational goals to advance our mission.
Individual performance is defined more broadly than the achievement of quantitative metrics. It includes active participation in personal and professional development, sharing expertise and experience through coaching and mentoring of colleagues and deliberate collaboration across functional areas to advance our mission.
Managers are partners in the success of the employees and, together, foster an environment where performance feedback is continuously shared and formally reviewed at least twice each year.
Recognition for individual and team achievements is provided spontaneously through local, affiliate and association-wide programs.
Visit the links below for more information about what we do and how we do it daily:
Start! Heart Walk — an initiative that calls on Americans and their employers to create a culture of health and physical activity. This is the American Heart Association's signature fund-raising event
Jump Rope For Heart — elementary-age students jump rope and secure sponsors to raise money for the fight against heart disease and stroke, while learning about the benefits of physical activity
Hoops For Heart - A basketball event program mainly for middle and high school students.
The American Heart Association is dedicated to being an employer that honors and rewards your impact on advancing our mission. Each day, you invest your talent in a way that is true, positive, heroic and committed in building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. This unique culture – one where employees honor their roles as stewards for the organization's enduring mission – is at the heart of the American Heart Association's tradition of excellence.
The Total Rewards Portfolio fully aligns with the culture and strategic vision of the American Heart Association with the purpose of attracting, engaging and retaining the excellence in people that drives our ability to successfully achieve our goals. The primary components of the Portfolio include:
Total Compensation
Total compensation at the American Heart Association is designed to engage and retain employees who are motivated by high performance expectations and are committed to making the American Heart Association the most effective, respected voluntary health organization in the country.
Total compensation at the American Heart Association is designed to engage and retain employees who are motivated by high performance expectations and are committed to making the American Heart Association the most effective, respected voluntary health organization in the country. Benefits
The American Heart Association offers a wide range of benefits programs to emphasize wellness and encourage employees to take an active role in managing their health. Benefits offered include:
Medical and Prescription
Dental
Life Insurance
Short Term and Long Term Disability
Paid Time Off
Retirement Programs
Workplace Wellness
Voluntary Benefits including vision, health care savings, dependent care savings, supplemental life insurance, dependent life insurance and pre-tax savings plans.
Performance and Recognition
The American Heart Association features a comprehensive approach to performance management and recognition for individual and collaborative achievements aligned with organizational goals in advancing our mission.
Professional Development
The American Heart Association nurtures professional development through effectively integrating responsibilities of the organization, managers and individuals in career planning and growth aligned with organizational goals.
