Elba Haid

In April 2018, the Heart and Stroke Foundation launched the #TimeToSeeRed initiative, an awareness and fundraising campaign dedicated to women’s heart and brain health.

Women’s heart and brain health is still vastly misunderstood and women in Canada are under-researched, under-diagnosed, under-treated and unaware of their risks for heart disease and stroke. Currently two-thirds of heart disease and stroke clinical research is based on men, yet 23 per cent more women die of heart failure than men, and it is the number one cause of premature death for women.

After launching the #TimeToSeeRed campaign, Elba Haid was Canada’s first founding member of the Women’s Heart and Brain Health Initiative.

Haid believes in giving back to the community. She felt a very strong commitment to take a major role in this initiative because of the devastating impact of heart disease and stroke among women of all ages. Haid lost her mother to stroke when she was only 14 years old, and growing up without a mother had a profound impact on her life. She believes in doing everything possible to save other young women from a similar experience.

Haid is a trailblazer in this life-saving campaign, and now Manitoba has six founding members, the most in Western Canada.

In addition to her philanthropic work, Haid has been a champion of her fellow women entrepreneurs as a founding member of the Women of Winnipeg. She has encouraged, mentored and funded women to achieve higher education, board positions and elected office. Haid makes it her mission to open doors for other women to promote equality of opportunity and inclusivity.

Haid has been a supporter of arts and culture in Winnipeg as a passionate volunteer for Manitoba Opera, The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

This, in addition to her contributions to the elder-care community. In 1995, Haid founded Realcare Inc., a primary-care provider for elders in Winnipeg, with the mission to set and maintain a high standard of care in the industry, driven by the belief Manitobans deserve to be cared for with dignity and compassion.