BALTIMORE — The founder and president of Baltimore nonprofit HeartSmiles has passed away, the organization announced.
Joni Holifield founded the nonprofit in 2015 to provide underserved youth in Baltimore with personal and professional development opportunities.
Since its inception, HeartSmiles has provided more than $1 million in wages to children.
In 2024, HeartSmiles celebrated a 100% graduation rate among its high school seniors while serving 1,500 children annually.
The nonprofit was created out of pain following the Freddie Gray unrest.
The organization reached its first significant milestone in May 2025 when it celebrated its first college graduate.
"HeartSmiles is all about youth success, helping young people discover and their version of success regardless of what that looks like," Holifield said to WMAR's Cyera Williams in 2025.
Over 5,000 youth participate in the program in various ways. Holifield called them "Heartbeats"—reminding them daily that their dreams matter.
She also worked with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Youth Advisory Board in another effort to reach Baltimore youth.
The Ravens recognized Holifield as their 2025 Inspire Change Changemaker, a program that recognizes a person in an NFL team market that is making a difference in their community with their social justice work.
Many state leaders shared their thoughts on the news:
Dawn and I are heartbroken by the passing of Joni Holifield.
— Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) June 17, 2026
I had the privilege of calling her my friend and was inspired by her commitment to making lives better for all Marylanders through HeartSmiles and her work at Johns Hopkins University.
Thank you for everything, Joni.… pic.twitter.com/rSTnDbjrhN
This is a tremendous loss for our city, and we are holding Joni’s wife, family and the HeartBeats and Heartsmiles team in our hearts. Joni left a six-figure corporate job to create Heartsmiles, pouring everything she had into creating opportunities for young people in our city—especially the leaders she mentored, the Heartbeats. She lived by example, with her faith as guiding light for her work. Our entire city is grateful for her leadership, for her advocacy on behalf of our young people, and for her commitment to pushing Baltimore closer to the best version of itself.
Baltimore has lost one of its fiercest champions. Joni Holifield believed in our young people, and she built a movement around the idea that every child has value and purpose, no matter their circumstances.
Through her nonprofit HeartSmiles, Joni mentored thousands of young Baltimoreans, and this city is better for it.
Her vision was always bigger than any single program. Her work is not finished, and it now falls to all of us to carry it forward.
My heart is with Joni’s family, her staff, and every Heartbeat whose life she touched. Baltimore will miss her, but her light lives on in them.”
