Cincinnati Leader of Impact

Cintas’ Katie Gough-Edwards

Cintas Corporation’s Katie Gough-Edwards, a longtime advocate for heart health and the American Heart Association (AHA), won a seven-week fundraising challenge to become the AHA’s 2022 Leader of Impact for Greater Cincinnati.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230131005033/en/

Cintas Corporation’s Katie Gough-Edwards, a longtime advocate for heart health and the American Heart Association (AHA), won a seven-week fundraising challenge to become the AHA’s 2022 Leader of Impact for Greater Cincinnati. She will be formally honored at the 2023 Greater Cincinnati Heart Ball on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati. (Photo: Business Wire)

Gough-Edwards, Cintas First Aid & Safety’s Midwest Director of Sales, will be honored for her passion and drive to make a difference at the 2023 Greater Cincinnati Heart Ball, Feb. 4 at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati. The celebration follows a national competition that started Sept. 29 on World Heart Day and inspired $1.8 million in fundraising for the AHA.

>> Media-Use Asset (Dropbox) – Gough-Edwards Headshot (.jpg)

Gough-Edwards is among six area changemakers who raised a combined $114,727 in a campaign that ranked fourth in the country and first in its market size. Gough-Edwards raised nearly $37,000, or over a third of that total, in support of the AHA’s life-saving work.

She was surprised to learn she’d won when the Cincinnati leaders gathered for a November conference call.

“Because it was a blind competition, nobody knew what you were raising. It wasn’t posted anywhere, which made it more competitive and fun and really brought it back to raising money for a good cause,” Gough-Edwards said. “It was awesome to see that all the efforts of Cintas and our partners were so successful that we took first place.”

The AHA’s challenge encouraged local leaders to promote heart health awareness and combat health inequities in their communities. This year, 209 local leaders across 150 cities created unique fundraising campaigns.

Mark Carter, Cintas First Aid & Safety President and COO, nominated Gough-Edwards. As a supporter of the AHA personally and professionally for 13 years, he regarded her as an ideal ambassador.

“Katie is a game-changer for the First Aid & Safety Division, as well as Cintas,” Carter said. “Her personal connections to heart disease and cardiovascular events, in addition to her influence and reach in our business, gave her the potential to be a tremendous force in this year’s Leaders of Impact campaign. I thought she was a natural choice to represent Cintas this year, and I’m so proud she represented Cintas and the American Heart Association so successfully.”