What Stroke Awareness Foundation does

The Stroke Awareness Foundation (SAF) is a private non-profit organization founded in 2002 in Campbell, California, by stroke survivors Pat Dando, Charles Toeniskoetter, and Charles E. Hoffman. The foundation operates with 1-10 employees and serves residents of Santa Clara County with the mission of reducing stroke occurrence and ensuring that stroke patients receive best-in-class medical care. Its core deliverables include a multilingual mobile application (available on iOS and Android) that provides geolocation-based certified stroke center search, B.E.F.A.S.T. symptom education, and emergency contact geolocation notification; a content-rich website (strokeinfo.org) offering stroke education in 8 languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Farsi, Afghan, Portuguese); and the annual Fight Stroke Walk, the foundation's signature community engagement and fundraising event.

The foundation's business model is entirely donation-driven, with a stated pledge that 100% of contributions remain in Santa Clara County. Revenue streams include individual and corporate charitable donations and event sponsorships, with all services delivered free of charge to the public. GTM motions span community-led engagement through partnerships with local hospitals (Stanford Health Care, Good Samaritan Hospital, Regional Medical Center of San Jose) and community organizations (Pacific Stroke Association, REACH by AbilityPath, Champion the Challenges, Beyond Stillness), event-driven outreach via the Fight Stroke Walk, and direct-to-consumer distribution through the mobile app.

The foundation's most strategically significant achievements are policy, not commercial: it successfully advocated for the 2008 Santa Clara County EMS redirection legislation mandating transport of stroke patients to Primary Stroke Centers, and again in 2017 for expanded redirection to Comprehensive Stroke Centers for complex cases. These regulatory wins, combined with two decades of partnership cultivation, constitute the foundation's primary durable impact, since no commercial revenue, funding rounds, or scaling transactions are disclosed.

Name

Stroke Awareness Foundation

Legal name

Stroke Awareness Foundation

Website

https://strokeinfo.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Stroke Awareness Foundation is a 2002-founded Santa Clara County non-profit that delivers free stroke education, a multilingual mobile app, and the annual Fight Stroke Walk to reduce stroke occurrence and improve emergency response for residents and survivors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Health Education and Advocacy

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Disease-Specific Research & Support (e.g., Cancer, Diabetes, ALS) (BPAGACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Stroke & Vascular Neurology (HLAKAIAG), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Stroke education
• Health awareness
• Nonprofit advocacy
• Community health
• Stroke prevention

Headquarters

HQ city

Campbell

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and organizations. The foundation states that 100% of donations stay in Santa Clara County for stroke awareness programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Stroke Awareness Foundation provides free stroke education, awareness, and advocacy services to the public in Santa Clara County. Its core offerings include a multilingual mobile app for stroke symptom recognition and stroke center location, a multilingual educational website covering 8 languages, and community engagement programs such as the annual Fight Stroke Walk event. The foundation also advocates for EMS redirection policies and supports stroke survivors and caregivers through partner programs and resources.

Product overview

The Stroke Awareness Foundation operates primarily as a non-profit health education and advocacy organization offering a digital platform and mobile application focused on stroke awareness and emergency response. Their core offerings include the Stroke Awareness Foundation mobile app (available for iOS and Android) that provides stroke center location services, symptom identification, and emergency contact notification in multiple languages; the strokeinfo.org website serving as an educational resource hub with multilingual stroke information; and community programs including the annual Fight Stroke Walk event. Through community partnerships, they offer additional resources such as the REACH rehabilitation program, Champion the Challenges recovery booklets, and Beyond Stillness storytelling initiatives. The organization focuses on Santa Clara County while providing searchable stroke center information for the broader United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stroke Awareness Foundation Mobile App

Quantifiable outcome

• Established stroke center certification standards that improved treatment outcomes in Santa Clara County
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Santa Clara County Board of SupervisorscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Advocated for expanded redirection policy allowing EMS to bypass PSC and transport directly to nearest Comprehensive Stroke Center for complex stroke cases.
• Santa Clara County Board of SupervisorscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Successfully advocated for groundbreaking legislation mandating EMS to reroute stroke victims to certified Primary Stroke Center hospitals in Santa Clara County.
• Pacific Stroke AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing comprehensive list of local stroke support groups and resources for stroke survivors and caregivers in Santa Clara County.
• REACH by AbilityPathcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStroke and brain injury rehabilitation services partner providing therapeutic services and recovery programming through licensed physical, occupational, and speech therapists delivering community-based services.
• Champion the ChallengessecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner providing award-winning QuickRead booklets for stroke rehabilitation, lifestyle adjustments, emotional support, and stroke prevention guidance.
• Beyond StillnesssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner empowering stroke survivors to articulate and publicly share their stories as gifts of inspiration and hope through reflective story-crafting process.
• Good Samaritan HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst hospital in California and 5th in the nation to earn Primary Stroke Center certification. Comprehensive Stroke Center providing advanced stroke treatment.
• Stanford Health CarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerComprehensive Stroke Center providing advanced stroke care, treatments, and surgical procedures including the clot-busting drug tPA and mechanical thrombectomy.
• Regional Medical Center of San JosecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerComprehensive Stroke Center providing advanced stroke care with 24/7 neuro-critical care team and complex procedures.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• American Heart Association / American Stroke Association: The American Stroke Association is a division of the AHA and is the largest national nonprofit dedicated to stroke education, awareness, and advocacy. It operates nationwide stroke-awareness campaigns, funds research, and offers consumer-facing tools that compete with SAF's mission, though at a vastly larger scale.
• World Stroke Organization: The WSO is a global non-profit focused on stroke prevention, treatment, and recovery. While operating internationally rather than regionally, it pursues the same awareness, advocacy, and policy-influence mission as SAF.

Others

• American Academy of Neurology: The AAN is the professional society for neurologists that publishes stroke treatment guidelines and supports stroke-system advocacy. While not a consumer-facing peer, it sits in the same clinical and policy ecosystem that informs SAF's mission.
• Brain Attack Coalition: The Brain Attack Coalition is a group of professional, voluntary, and governmental organizations focused on stroke treatment and prevention guidelines. It overlaps with SAF's EMS redirection advocacy and stroke-center certification work at a policy/standards level rather than grassroots delivery.

Regional players

• Different Strokes (UK): Different Strokes is a UK-based charity supporting younger stroke survivors with rehabilitation and peer support. It parallels SAF's REACH and Beyond Stillness programs and offers a comparable operational model outside the U.S.
• Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada: Heart & Stroke Foundation is Canada's national nonprofit combining heart-disease and stroke awareness, advocacy, and research funding. It mirrors SAF's model at national scale in a different geography and serves as a relevant comparable for what a scaled stroke-awareness charity can become.

Direct peers

• Pacific Stroke Association: Pacific Stroke Association is a regional nonprofit serving the Bay Area stroke community with support groups and survivor resources. SAF already partners with it for survivor referrals, and both organizations share the same disease focus and geographic service area.
• National Stroke Association: National Stroke Association is a direct peer nonprofit focused exclusively on stroke education, recovery, and advocacy across the U.S. It delivers survivor resources and public awareness content closely paralleling SAF's programs, operating at a national scale.

Emerging players

• Joe Niekro Foundation: The Joe Niekro Foundation focuses on brain aneurysms, AVMs, and hemorrhagic stroke awareness and patient support. It overlaps with SAF's stroke education and survivor-support mission, though narrower in scope.
• YoungStroke Foundation: YoungStroke focuses on strokes in young adults through awareness, advocacy, and survivor support. Like SAF, it is a small mission-driven nonprofit, but differentiated by its demographic focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stroke-awareness-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Stroke Awareness Foundation