February is Heart Health Month, which means it’s a time to raise awareness about heart health. Nicole Ward, mother of NFL superstar Denzel Ward, corner-back for the Cleveland Browns, and Paul III (P.J.), knows all too well how heart-related health issues can affect and ultimately upend a family, which is why in 2019, she co-founded the Make Them Know Your Name (MTKYN) Foundation, inspired by the mission to prevent heart-related fatalities in communities nationwide by providing essential heart health education and resources.
Named in honor of her late husband, Paul Ward, who died due to sudden cardiac arrest, the foundation has made an incredible impact, training over 35,000 people in CPR and AED (Automated External Defibrillator) use. MTKYN has provided life-saving emergency resources, including hands-on CPR certifications and AED machines, to local high schools, gyms, and other public facilities in Ohio. Nicole has also been instrumental in creating and executing signature community events such as the Cleveland All-Star Fitness Expo Pop Up in the Park and Fitness Under the Lights, which draw thousands annually, promoting heart health.
As a prominent health and wellness educator, Ward played a critical role in advocating for House Bill 47, now signed into law. This bill mandates that all public and private schools in Ohio have an AED and an emergency preparedness plan and require staff and coaches to learn CPR and AED use. Her advocacy through MTKYN and legislative efforts ensures that schools are better equipped to respond to cardiac emergencies, protecting students and communities.
Additionally, as a member of the NFL Smart Heart Sports Coalition, she furthers her efforts to improve outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest in youth nationwide. Her community impact has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Health & Wellness Award from the 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland, a certificate of special congressional recognition, and the 2024 Motivated and Empowered Cleveland Black Girl Rock Award. She has also been honored at the American Heart Association’s Greater Cleveland Heart & Stroke Ball, receiving the Live Fierce Stand for All Award, recognizing her as a catalyst for healthier lives for everyone.
Beyond her work with MTKYN, Ward and her family fund the Paul G. Ward Jr. Memorial Scholarship, annually supporting a Bedford High School (Bedford, Ohio), student in financial need. She is a member of the Professional Football Players Mothers Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, and The Links Organization. After retiring early from Cleveland Clinic in 2019, Nicole pursued her real estate license, joining Chestnut Hill Realty, and has been a real estate investor in the Cleveland area for over 20 years. Read our conversation with Ward below.
ESSENCE: You wear a lot of different hats. How do you prioritize self-care while empowering your family and the broader community?
Nicole Ward: Self-care is essential. I learned that the hard way with losing my husband. You go through feeling invincible and can do it all, but if you don’t take care of yourself, there’s no way that you can take care of other people. Sometimes, life has a way of giving you a new perspective and a new outlook on how you should approach life. I genuinely have a new appreciation for life, and I understand that I must care for myself to be there and present for anyone else. I try to focus on God first. My faith always comes first. I have a routine that I do each morning, from praying and reading the Bible and meditation and trying to make more conscious decisions about how I eat.
Let’s talk about the tragedy that hit your family. Could you share your experience with that and how you all were able to cope, and how your experience is now as a widow?
My husband was my high school sweetheart. He was definitely into fitness and being conscious about the things that he ate. If you would look at him, you would see him as someone who you would consider to be the bill of health. He was very impactful, in the community, and made an impact on those who came in contact with him. One day, he went to a spin class, and within 20 minutes or so of us hanging up, I received a call on my phone, and it was from his phone from his instructor. He fell off the spin bike and experienced sudden cardiac arrest.
He didn’t end up making it in the emergency room. And so afterward, when I started to do my research, trying to understand what had happened, as he passed away from sudden cardiac arrest, which honestly, I didn’t know what sudden cardiac arrest was, but then I found out what it was. I also found out that his death was preventable, and it didn’t have to be a death sentence.
However, to help someone experiencing it, you must take immediate action, such as CPR and using an AED. This sparked the mission for our foundation: to arm people with awareness about the importance of CPR right at the moment and knowing how to use an AED.
Do you believe your foundation would like to inspire other people to solidify their legacies? Because the name itself infers that you all want to ensure that legacy is central to the foundation’s mission.
Legacy is very important. So, the foundation’s name is what my late husband used to tell the boys when they were growing up. Whether it was before they went out on the football field, the basketball court in the community, just getting dressed, going to school, he would just say to them, make them know your name. And they knew that meant going out there and representing, making a difference in a positive way. As you mentioned, we feel that it definitely aligns with and applies to the Heart Health Foundation. Like we need people to step up, and make them know your name.
If your husband was here with you in the physical realm and at one of the events you all host, what would you turn to him and say?
The first thing that came to mind is that we’re making them know our name. Not only are we making them know our name, but people are stepping up themselves to also leave a legacy and make the world know their names as well. We’ve created a movement. What we are hoping to do is to take what was a very painful and tragic situation for us that was very unexpected and use that in a positive way by teaching and sharing with others the experience that we went through in hopes that they don’t have to go through it themselves.