Nhlamulo Tlakula is a non-profit founder, fintech leader and storyteller driven by a belief that people deserve to feel they matter. Raised in Johannesburg, she comes from a line of women who served. Her grandmother built a school for children living with disabilities, while her mother was one of South Africa's first black female human-rights lawyers. Their example shaped her leadership.Based between the US and South Africa, Tlakula founded The Grateful Hearts Foundation after her daughter, Bogolo, was diagnosed with a complex congenital heart defect. At 27 weeks pregnant, Tlakula was told to consider terminating her pregnancy because her daughter had less than a 25% chance of survival. She moved to the US during the pandemic. Bogolo, now six, has survived three open-heart surgeries. The experience led Tlakula to ask what happens to families without medical aid or resources to travel for specialised care.In partnership with Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital, the foundation is raising funds to train African paediatric cardiac specialists so that a child's survival no longer depends on geography or income. Tlakula's work involves fundraising, writing grant proposals, meeting donors and partners and working with the hospital to prepare for the first doctor the foundation will sponsor. The aim is sustainability: funding qualified cardiac surgeons and cardiologists through 12 to 24 months of paediatric sub-specialisation, followed by three years of service in South Africa's public and academic hospitals. Training one specialist costs about R2 million, with the doctor operating on children for 20 to 30 years.In March 2026, she produced Pelo A Mother's Love, an art exhibition and auction fundraiser with Aspire Art, raising R300 000 towards training the foundation's first specialist. Tlakula has secured the hospital partnership, built the foundation into a registered NPC with Section 18A status, received recognition through South Africa's 40 under 40 in 2025 and the Women Impact Alliance and shared the foundation's advocacy on 702, SAfm and Kaya FM.