Founder and president of the Bourgeois Foundation, entrepreneur and director of operations at a financial services firm, I dedicate my professional life to building bridges between prevention, health, and education. Today, it is with great pride that I engage as an ambassador for the Red Dress Gala in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
This cause touches me right in the heart. Literally.
My little brother Thomas is my world. He was born with a heart defect, a ventricular septal defect (VSD), which led him to undergo open-heart surgery at the age of five months. This diagnosis disrupted our daily lives, transformed his journey, and shaped a part of the woman I have become. If he is alive today, it is thanks to medicine, the advances in research, and all those who have invested their energy in saving lives.
As an ambassador, my goal is to shine a light on this cause, just as I do for mental health with my own foundation. Because what saves lives is not just science; it is also information, awareness, and the voices that dare to speak out.
The red dress, for me, is the symbol of this powerful bond between love, commitment, and resilience. It represents all those — men and women — we almost lost, but who are still here. I am honored to carry this message, with all the seriousness and emotion it deserves.
Because every heartbeat deserves to have a future.