Bouba (right) with his team at the HGF 2025 Community Heart Walk
Meet Somaneh “Bouba” Diemé
Meet Somaneh “Bouba” Diemé, the Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer at Heart of a Giant Foundation
Somaneh “Bouba” Diemé is the Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Heart of a Giant Foundation (HGF), a community-based organization focused on cardiovascular health in Greater Boston's highest-risk communities. HGF is a close partner of Vital CxNs’ Community Health Hubs Initiative. We sat down with Bouba to discuss his personal heart health journey and how that led him to start the work of the foundation, as well as the importance of its community-centered approach.
Bouba, whose parents are from Mali and Senegal, was born in Senegal, grew up in Mali, and later moved to South Africa for higher education. After his studies, he began his career as an engineer there. A few years later, he developed a persistent chest pain. Upon seeking medical care, doctors told him that his heart was “too big.” Bouba, in his surprise, joked with the doctors, “I often get that compliment, but what exactly does it mean?” They diagnosed him with left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy, a rare congenital heart defect that was the cause of him having the “heart of a giant,” hence the name he later gave to his organization. Bouba immediately began treatment for his condition and worked to develop coping mechanisms for the psychological toll of the diagnosis. With this regimen, he successfully managed the condition for the next few years.
“Patients are the most important teachers in healthcare.”
In 2016, Bouba traveled to the U.S. under the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. However, shortly after arriving, his heart symptoms returned, leading him straight to the emergency room. This was his first experience with the U.S. healthcare system, which he remembers as marked by having to advocate for himself to receive the appropriate care for his condition. Experiences like his underscore why Bouba asserts that, “Patients are the most important teachers in healthcare.” Thanks in part to his self-advocacy, he eventually received a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), a type of mechanical heart pump, which better controlled his condition while he waited for a heart transplant.
Given his medical situation, Bouba and his wife, a Boston native, decided to move to Boston permanently. As they worked to build a life in this new city, Bouba returned to practicing martial arts, his wife gave birth to twins — joining their older son who had moved with them from South Africa — and Bouba turned to blogging to keep loved ones updated on his health. Over time, strangers began following his story and his network of supporters grew, planting the seeds of what would become the Heart of a Giant Foundation (HGF). In fact, the other meaning behind ‘Heart of a Giant’ reflects the community of people who accompanied him on his journey, showing him so much care and encouragement along the way. As Bouba stated, “The relationships–the social capital–that I’ve enjoyed since birth is literally the reason I’m still alive.”
In 2022, Bouba finally received the heart transplant he needed. This huge milestone strengthened his “mission to give meaning” to his personal journey by turning it into something that could benefit others. Bouba remembers that in the early days of his diagnosis, limited information existed about patient experiences with conditions like his. Now, he says information about many heart health topics is much more widely available, but is not always accessible. This reality is what inspired him to use a patient-centered approach to address systems-level barriers to accessible cardiovascular health care through the Heart of a Giant Foundation (HGF), which he founded in 2018.
HGF began operations in 2020 by providing virtual webinars and workshops related to heart health in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once able, they expanded to hosting in-person education, screening, and coaching events in the community, always with the aim of “meeting people where they are.” Importantly, Bouba notes that HGF identifies as “patients and helpers of the system” who act as a bridge between the community and complex systems of care. According to Bouba, “We are here to fill gaps in the system, support and strengthen it, and work with it, not against it or promote alternatives.” Their focus on accessibility, linguistic and cultural responsiveness, and trust helps them to do just that.
“We are here to fill gaps in the system, support and strengthen it, and work with it, not against it or promote alternatives”
Since 2020, HGF has supported over 7,800 people in Greater Boston and Brockton through screenings, education, health coaching, and outreach, both in high-risk communities and online. In 2025, 800 people were screened for heart disease risk, and 22 required urgent care for severe high blood pressure. Beyond the numbers, HGF has also developed a cherished and growing presence in the community, a testament to Bouba’s prioritization of relationship-building. In fact, he sees the quality of relationships between community members and providers, whether clinicians or HGF staff, as directly tied to improved outcomes: "Respect and appreciation open doors in healthcare. When people sense you value who they are, they open up to clinicians and care teams. Those moments of openness are where the real work of care can begin. They may determine whether an intervention succeeds or fails.”
Trust is central to good care, whether at home, in clinics, or in hospitals. This is why community members seek out Bouba and HGF teammates by name when he has been away, and why HGF builds strong partnerships with clinicians, health systems, and community organizations. By doing this, HGF help build the kind of trust between patients and providers that makes care work . In Bouba’s words, “Everything in this world has to do with relationship-building”, a philosophy that he says will continue to guide HGF for many years to come.
Written by Briana Acosta (February 2026)