INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Elevance Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Elevance Health, today announces professional football player Ryan Kelly as its latest Elevance Health Champion. Designed to help increase awareness for critical health challenges and raise funds for local organizations that are making a healthy difference in their communities, the Elevance Health Champion program recognizes professional athletes and organizations who have dedicated their life to leading healthy lifestyles and are actively helping to inspire others to do the same.
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and with 10 to 20% of pregnancies ending in miscarriage – and one in 175 pregnancies ending in a stillbirth – Ryan and his wife Emma have made it their mission to keep as many women and infants safe during pregnancy and from enduring the tragic loss of a baby. In 2021, Ryan and Emma went through their own tragic loss of their first daughter, Mary Kate, when Emma was 19 weeks pregnant. Since then, Ryan and Emma have partnered with one of the Foundation’s national grantees, Healthy Birth Day, and have become advocates for the organization’s Count the Kicks program. Together, Ryan and Emma are fighting for research and awareness for infant and maternal mortality, as well as provide resources for families who have already suffered from miscarriages and stillbirths.
“At Elevance Health, we’re driven by our purpose of improving the health of humanity and take a whole health approach to understand the drivers of health,” said Gail K. Boudreaux, President and CEO at Elevance Health. “Our Elevance Health Champion program allows us to partner with individuals who serve as a positive role model, allowing us to further strengthen our communities. Ryan and Emma’s story is sadly one we hear far too often, but we are profoundly grateful for their commitment to addressing maternal and infant health in our communities, making Ryan an ideal choice as our next Elevance Health Champion.”
Since 2022, Elevance Health Foundation has invested more than $30 million to ensure women and their babies can achieve optimal health and well-being. By sharing the Foundation’s goal of strengthening communities and improving health outcomes, Ryan was strategically chosen as the next Elevance Health Champion.
“Losing Mary Kate was one of the hardest things Emma and I have ever gone through in our whole lives,” said Ryan. “While it still doesn’t make sense, we are passionate about making sure that other families don’t have to endure the loss of a child. I’m proud to be an Elevance Health Champion, and hope that through this program, we can raise even more awareness around Count the Kicks and have others download this lifesaving app.”
Ryan attended the University of Alabama, where he played college football for the Crimson Tide. Kelly made his NFL debut with the Indianapolis Colts in 2016, where he was selected by the Colts in the first round of the NFL Draft. Ryan joins an impressive list of other athletes as an Elevance Health Champion including Tamika Catchings, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Billie Jean King, Michael Phelps, Victor Oladipo, Eli Manning, Glenn Robinson III, and Jake Steinfeld, whose philanthropic work convey the message on improving overall public health.
The Elevance Health Champion campaign is a program within Elevance Health CARES, Inc., a public charity created to complement the work the Elevance Health Foundation does to advance health equity across America. To learn more and consider joining Ryan, Emma and Elevance Health in promoting maternal and infant health by making a donation, please visit here.
ABOUT ELEVANCE HEALTH FOUNDATION
Elevance Health Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Elevance Health, Inc. The Foundation works to advance health equity by focusing on improving the health of the socially vulnerable through partnerships and programs in our communities with an emphasis on maternal child health; substance use disorder; and food as medicine. Additionally, the Foundation also responds to disasters when our communities need us the most. Through its key areas of focus, the Foundation strategically aligns with Elevance Health’s focus on community health and becoming a lifetime, trusted health partner that is fueled by its purpose to improve the health of humanity. The Foundation coordinates with the company’s year-round Dollars for Dollars program which provides 100 percent match of associates’ donations, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. To learn more about Elevance Health Foundation, please visit www.elevancehealth.foundation or follow us @ElevanceFND on X and Elevance Health Foundation on Facebook.
ABOUT COUNT THE KICKS
Count the Kicks is a program of Healthy Birth Day, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of stillbirth. The free Count the Kicks app is available in 20+ languages in the Google Play and iOS app stores, and has been downloaded 600,000 times and counting in all 50 U.S. states, and more than 140 other countries. Count the Kicks has appeared on Good Morning America, The Washington Post, Sunday Night Football, and in O Magazine, and produced a national PSA that generated more than 300 million viewer impressions. Learn more about our vision to accelerate progress on stillbirth prevention at CountTheKicks.org.
