Heart of a Giant Foundation

What Heart of a Giant Foundation does

Heart of a Giant Foundation (HGF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in November 2018 by Bouba Diemé, a heart transplant recipient at Brigham and Women's Hospital in October 2022. The organization delivers free cardiometabolic screenings, blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring, health education, and care coordination to underserved communities across Greater Boston, operating from its Mattapan headquarters at 524 River Street, Suite 800. Services are delivered by Community Health Workers who live in the neighborhoods served and collectively speak five community languages (English, Spanish, Kreyòl ayisyen, Kriolu, Vietnamese) across 19+ active screening sites in Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury, East Boston, Hyde Park, and Brockton, with walk-in access requiring no insurance, appointment, or paperwork.

The organization's two interconnected programs are Community Care Connect (direct service delivery) and the Community Evidence Lab (outcome tracking and research). Underlying these is Essyl, a bespoke HIPAA-compliant care coordination platform that records every screening, follow-up, referral, and outcome across all sites and supports dose-response analytics showing 74% blood pressure improvement at 6-9 visits and an 8:1-29:1 program ROI. A remote patient monitoring program is scheduled to launch in 2026, and the organization publishes plain-language heart health guides, hosts the Living With Heart Disease podcast, and runs the annual Boston Community Heart Walk.

HGF's revenue model is a hybrid of philanthropic grants (Cummings Foundation, Boston Scientific Foundation, Lenny Zakim Fund, The Boston Foundation, Boston Public Health Commission, CVS Health Foundation), individual donations (85+ donors contributing $20,085 in 2025), volunteer and in-kind contributions (50+ volunteers, 100+ hours in 2025), and a growing healthcare system contract stream the organization is targeting to reach 70% of total revenue by 2028 through partnerships with Mass General Brigham, Beth Israel Deaconess, Boston Medical Center, and Brigham and Women's. All participant-facing services remain free.

Name

Heart of a Giant Foundation

Legal name

Heart of a Giant Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://heartofagiant.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Heart of a Giant Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers free cardiometabolic screenings, blood pressure monitoring, and care coordination through community health workers to underserved residents across 10 Greater Boston neighborhoods, including Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury, and Brockton.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Health Services

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Preventive Cardiology & Lipidology (HLAKABAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Health & Prevention Program Funding (HLAJALAF)

Keywords

• Community health screening
• Cardiovascular disease prevention
• Community health workers
• Cardiometabolic health programs
• Nonprofit healthcare outreach

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Grants and Philanthropic Funding: Primary revenue stream. Funded by foundations (Cummings Foundation, Lenny Zakim Fund, Boston Scientific Foundation, The Boston Foundation, etc.), government grants (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Boston Public Health Commission), and corporate donors. All screening services are free to participants.
2. Healthcare System Contracts: Earned revenue partnerships with health systems and payers who recognize that CHWs strengthen clinical outcomes. Make patients more engaged, care plans more effective, and communities more reachable. Part of expansion strategy targeting 70% earned revenue by 2028.
3. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute through one-time gifts, monthly recurring donations, text-to-give campaigns, stock donations, and employer matching programs. 85+ individual donors contributed $20,085 in 2025.
4. Volunteer and In-Kind Contributions: 50+ volunteers contributed 100+ hours in 2025 ($5,000 in-kind value). Skills-based volunteers in design, photography, data, grant writing, and clinical training.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Heart of a Giant Foundation delivers free cardiometabolic screenings (blood pressure and blood sugar checks), plain-language health education in five community languages, and longitudinal care coordination to connect participants with clinicians and follow-up care, all provided by Community Health Workers who live in the neighborhoods served across 19+ sites in Greater Boston. All services are free to participants with no insurance or paperwork required. Care delivery, screening documentation, follow-up, referrals, and outcomes are tracked through the organization's proprietary HIPAA-compliant Essyl platform.

Product overview

Heart of a Giant Foundation operates two interconnected programs: Community Care Connect, which delivers free cardiometabolic screenings, blood pressure monitoring, health education, and care coordination through community health workers in Greater Boston neighborhoods; and the Community Evidence Lab, which generates and tracks outcome data from screenings and shares findings with clinical research partners. The organization also produces the Living With Heart Disease podcast, publishes plain-language health guides on hypertension, heart failure, and kidney disease, and hosts the annual Boston Community Heart Walk event. All services are free to participants, funded through grants, donors, and institutional partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Community Care Connect: Direct service work providing free cardiometabolic screenings, blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring, health education, and care coordination.
• Community Evidence Lab
• Living With Heart Disease

Products and services

• Community Care Connect Direct service program providing free cardiometabolic screenings (blood pressure, blood sugar), multilingual health education, and longitudinal care coordination across 19+ sites in Greater Boston neighborhoods. Targets underserved residents (Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury, East Boston, Hyde Park, Brockton). All services are free to participants.
• Community Evidence Lab Research and evidence-generation program that tracks cardiometabolic outcomes across HGF screening sites using the proprietary HIPAA-compliant Essyl platform, analyzes patterns, and shares findings with clinical research partners (including Mass General Brigham's Pressure Check Research Initiative). Provides the data backbone underlying HGF's 8:1–29:1 program ROI and dose-response outcome reporting.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,340+ screenings conducted 2023-2025
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Community care coordination through Bowdoin Street Health Center (BIDMC's community-based primary care practice). Research collaboration and clinical advisory partnership through Dr. Lucas Marinacci.
• Northeastern UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Academic and research collaboration expanding evidence base for community health interventions.
• Bridgewater State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Academic partnership supporting research methodology and student placement in community health settings.
• Project C.U.R.E.minorOthers · 1 January 2024Medical equipment logistics partner for potential Senegal expansion. Supporting infrastructure development for international community health programs.
• YMCA of Greater BostonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Community partnership providing screening sites and wellness programming collaboration.
• Boston Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Nutrition and cardiometabolic health partnership with board representation through Olivia Thomas, Director of Nutrition and Nutrition Innovation. Deep expertise in food, culture, and cardiometabolic health.
• Boston Public Health CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Community blood pressure clinic partnership. Public health infrastructure collaboration extending BPHC's reach into underserved communities.
• Age Strong Boston, City of BostoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Government partnership for community health programming. Age Strong Commission collaboration for senior health screenings.
• Brockton Neighborhood Health CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023FQHC partnership extending community health services to Brockton area. CHW-led screening programs in underserved Brockton neighborhoods.
• Brigham and Women's HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Clinical partnership, research collaboration, and board representation. Dr. Emefah Loccoh serves as board member. Bouba received his heart transplant here in October 2022. Partnership extends clinical reach into underserved communities through CHW-led screening programs.
• Massachusetts General HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Clinical advisory partnership, community cardiovascular care collaboration. Dr. Jocelyn Carter serves on Board of Advisors.
• Mass General Brigham (MGB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Multi-year clinical and research partnership. MGB Pressure Check Research Initiative collaboration began 2024. Partnership focuses on extending clinical reach into underserved communities.
• Bowdoin Street Health CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022FQHC community-based primary care integration. East Boston screening collaboration with BIDMC. CHW-led programs extend care coordination into community settings.
• East Boston Senior CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Active screening site with two-year ongoing partnership. Documented blood pressure improvement across members. Highest retention rate (52%) site. Partnership with City of Boston's Age Strong Commission.
• ABCD (Action for Boston Community Development)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Community partnership providing screening sites and community outreach. ROCbury/North Dorchester NOC location for regular screening events.
• Community ServingsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Provides medically tailored, nutritious, scratch-made meals for people with chronic conditions. Featured in 'Cooking for a Cause' TV documentary. Supports cardiac patients with proper nutrition.
• American Heart AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Physician and patient advocacy network partnership. Bouba led HGF team at AHA Boston Heart Walk since 2018. Patient stories published on AHA platforms. Partnership 2020-2024.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• WomenHeart: National nonprofit providing peer-led support, education, and advocacy for women living with heart disease. Comparable as a community-rooted cardiovascular nonprofit, though HGF is distinguished by its emphasis on preventive screenings in disparity populations rather than post-diagnosis peer support.
• Mended Hearts: National nonprofit providing peer-to-peer support and education for heart disease patients, survivors, and caregivers. Directly comparable mission of community-based cardiovascular support, though HGF's model emphasizes CHW-led preventive screenings in underserved populations rather than post-diagnosis peer support.
• Million Hearts: HHS-led national initiative co-managed by CDC and CMS to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes through cardiovascular screening and BP control. Directly comparable mission of population-scale cardiovascular prevention; differs as a federal coordination effort rather than a CHW-delivered community service model.
• City Health Works: NYC-based nonprofit deploying community health workers to support chronic disease management in underserved neighborhoods, with documented outcomes and health-system partnerships. Closely comparable CHW-led, outcomes-tracked, payer-aligned model for cardiometabolic care in low-income communities.
• Health Leads: National nonprofit that connects patients to community resources addressing social determinants of health, with operations integrated into health systems. Comparable in bridging clinical and community settings via trusted frontline workers, though focused more broadly on social needs than cardiovascular prevention specifically.

Broad incumbents

• Partners In Health: Global nonprofit providing health care to people living in poverty and building local capacity through community health workers. Comparable community-rooted CHW model addressing health inequities, though PIH operates at global scale across multiple disease areas versus HGF's regional cardiovascular focus.
• American Heart Association: The largest US voluntary health organization focused on cardiovascular disease, funding research, advocacy, and public education. HGF already partners with AHA on the Boston Heart Walk and patient stories; AHA is the broad incumbent whose mission HGF operationalizes at the community-CHW level.
• Close the Gap (Boston Scientific Foundation): Boston Scientific Foundation's health-equity initiative addressing cardiovascular disparities in underrepresented populations. A funder of HGF and a directly adjacent effort; differs as a corporate-foundation grantmaking program rather than a community- delivered CHW service model.

Emerging players

• Community Health Impact Coalition: Global coalition advancing the professionalization of community health workers and evidence-based CHW programs. Comparable in championing CHW-led models with rigorous outcome data; differs as an advocacy and standards-setting body rather than a direct-service organization.

Others

• National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention: US nonprofit coalition of public and private organizations working to prevent heart disease and stroke through policy and awareness. Comparable mission focus on cardiovascular prevention; differs as a policy and coalition-building organization rather than a community service delivery model.

Market position

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@heartofagiant
• Facebookfacebook.com/heartofagiant.foundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heartofagiant
• Instagraminstagram.com/heartofagiant

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heart of a Giant Foundation