Kathy Munsch began her tenure at the American Heart Association in 2000 as a Senior Regional Director and was later promoted to Regional Vice President. She manages the Long Island office, the Long Island Board of Directors, a development staff, and is responsible for the integration of the development staff with other departments in the Founder’s Affiliate such as Communications, Quality Improvement Initiatives and Professional Education. Prior to joining the American Heart Association, she was Executive Director for a grass roots breast cancer organization raising money for education and awareness for Long Island women. She began her career with not-for-profits working for ten years at the Nassau County Coalition against Domestic Violence beginning as their Supervising Paralegal and then becoming their Events Manager.
Through her leadership, more than 2,000 companies on Long Island have participated in National Wear Red Day, a component of the Go Red for Women Movement, which educates women by raising their awareness of cardiovascular disease. Under Kathy’s leadership The Go Red for Women movement has grown on Long Island with close to 1,000 guests attending the Go Red for Women Luncheon each year. This educational and informative luncheon raises awareness and because of this we know more women are making better choices, exercising more and taking steps to live a healthier lifestyle. It is a premier networking event raising over a half of million dollars for research and education.
She is instrumental in creating a Heart Saver Awards Dinner recognizing the real heroes of Long Island who have saved the lives of people in our community through CPR and/or AED use.
Kathy serves on the Board of Directors, Long Island Chapter for the Association of Fundraising Professionals and was the 2018 Philanthropy Day Chair. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Advancement for Commerce, Industry & Technology. Kathy is on the Molloy College Task Force for their symposium, “The Conversation” and is a board member for the Association for Fundraising Professionals.
Kathy is an active member of Athena, which is a program supporting, honoring and developing women leaders where she serves on the Program Committee. She is also a committee member of the Long Island Association’s Women’s Collaborate, which encourages partnerships and provides support, education and growth opportunities for women. This coming year The Women’s Collaborate, and the American Heart Association will be working together educating women on women’s issues. She is also a member of WEDLI.