TANYA HALL
CEO at hearts4heart
Awarded a Governance Foundations for NFP Directors Scholarship at AICD, 2019
What sort of work does your organisation do?
Hearts4heart is a national health promotion charity that supports, educates and advocates for Australians living with heart disease. The primary goal of the organisation is to raise awareness of heart disease and for patients to receive equal access to advice, support, education and treatment. Hearts4heart brings together patients and healthcare professionals with the shared goal to reduce the burden to heart patients. We achieve this through support, information, education, awareness events and advocacy. Hearts4heart provides a robust set of services including linking patients with healthcare professionals, one on one support, web-based information on specific heart conditions in addition to linking with people who suffer from similar or the same illness, provide and facilitate the use of educational materials and ultimately provide the general public with information to assist with the management of heart disease. Describe a typical day's work.
I don’t ever have a typical day which is a reason why I love my job so much! One minute I can be in a meeting with the Federal Health Minister and the next I could be sitting in a patient support group. We are a grass root charity and are very hands on. Currently I am facilitating our national awareness campaign- Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Week and so much of my time is spent managing volunteers, working with creative agencies, creating video’s, updating the website, building an APP and working with lawyers. I am also working with the Federal Government on patient access to Cardiac Remote Monitoring and sit on various committees such as the TGA Medical Device Reform Committee. What were some of the key learnings from the course?
There have been a number of key learnings from the course. Effective Governance and the way in which our Board is structured and how we run our Board meetings has since changed. The course also offered a lot of guidance into the strategic planning process, risk management, finance- including how to read financial statements and more. How has it impacted / changed / benefited your role and your organisation as a whole?
The course has improved my overall knowledge of Governance which has greatly benefited the organisation. I was able to integrate my learnings into our Strategic Planning session and into all aspects of the business. It has helped our organization immensely. How did you come to be working in the not-for-profit sector?
I have volunteered for charities ever since I was a young teenager. My brother had cancer at 15 years old and I got involved with Canteen. My brother and I understood the value and importance of giving back at a very young age. When I reached my early thirties, I was very unwell and looked for information and support however there wasn’t anything available. Due to my experience in the NFP sector, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t anything available for heart disease and so I decided to start hearts4heart. What do you feel is most needed to sustain and build the impact of the not-for-profit sector?
The NFP sector often operates under limited resources and limited funding. It is also very competitive and yet each cause is extremely worthwhile. We rely on sponsorships, partnerships and opportunities like this course to help NFP’s evolve. What is something interesting / unique / unusual about you?
I have had 8 heart procedures myself!!
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