Raised in Compton, California, Tammy Tumbling overcame adversity to find a place in philanthropy. At the age of 17, she became a teen mom and then tragically lost her own mother. She took legal guardianship of her three younger siblings and finished her undergraduate business degree at California State University-Dominguez Hills. She later went on to get a master’s in public administration. Today, she is the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF), which has awarded $900 million in grants and scholarships across areas including homelessness, education and the environment. By 2024, OCCF is aiming to reach $1 billion in cumulative grantmaking.
We recently connected with Tumbling, who launched the African American Alliance Fund (AAAF) in 2020 amid a summer of racial reckoning. We asked her a few questions about why she started the fund, her work at OCCF, and how she is using her unlikely story to empower more people of color to have a seat at the philanthropic table. Here are some excerpts from that discussion, which have been edited for length and clarity.
Could you start by telling me a little bit about your background and what it was like growing up for you?
Sure. I was a teen mom at 17, growing up in the city of Compton. I still had to finish high school and knew that if I was going to be successful as a parent — a single parent at that — I needed to get a college education. A few years later, my mother had a massive stroke at 54, which left me as the caretaker and guardian of not just my two-year-old son, but my younger brothers and sisters, as well, who were in middle school in high school. I just didn’t want them to go into the foster care system. I always tried to view things as a positive. I didn’t know that my mom was grooming me to take care of my young child. And she was pretty tough on me about it, making sure that I knew how to be the best mom. That preparation then helped me to be the caregiver of us all. I then really started to lean on education, which I knew was how we could get out of living on welfare and Section 8 housing.
Now fast forward many years later, and my son is 39, but I’m only 25. Don’t do the math on that. In all seriousness, I’m so proud of him. He’s a Teamster at UPS and a homeowner. My brothers and sisters are also doing well and thriving. So that’s how I got started. And now I run a $500 million operation.
So how did you get your feet wet in philanthropy? And how did you find your way to the Orange County Community Foundation?
Oh my gosh. Well, many years ago, I was a teacher’s assistant at Fremont High School in South Los Angeles. I am a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. So when I was in college, one of our older sorority sisters connected me to Fremont. That’s why I believe in philanthropy, because there were so many people who reached back to help me out along the way. Anyway, there was a job fair at Fremont. They told me they had jobs for college students, too, and invited me to come visit United Way. At the time, that could’ve been “United Airways.” I had no idea what that was. But I became an executive assistant to the vice president of United Way. They really groomed me and showed me the ropes, and I became head of accounts. I was there about five years.
So that’s where I started with philanthropy and never looked back. Then I was at the Music Center, where I learned a lot about grantmaking and how to give money away. United Way was more about public speaking and how to sell a concept and talk about philanthropy in a way that makes others want to be part of that excitement. And then California Edison invited me to be on their philanthropy team. From 1998 to 2019, I was on the Edison team, eventually becoming the executive overseeing all philanthropy.
After doing all of that, I had no idea what it was preparing me for. But then Shelley Hoss, OCCF’s president and CEO, reached out to me. She’s a fabulous ally and visionary. I was thinking I was about 18 months from retirement. But once I spoke to Shelley, the opportunity to be executive vice president and chief operating officer where there’s a lot of transformational change happening, I couldn’t pass it up. And once you speak to Shelley, she just believes in it. So that’s where my heart and hands took over. Now I feel like I’m fully locked in.
Why did you launch the African American Alliance Fund?
So I arrived at the Orange County Community Foundation on September 16, 2019. Honeymoon period is going well. I’m assessing everything. I oversee HR, the IT department, marketing, communications, new business development, and people and culture, which is our HR area. By March of 2020, six months later, we’re in full pandemic. Then we had the loss of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. I needed to do something. People were out there protesting. L.A. was a madhouse. But we were still in the height of COVID. My own father passed away of COVID in May of 2020.
We all saw the death and execution of George Floyd. The whole world saw it. We were all standing still at the same time. But I didn’t want to protest. I’m not a politician. I’m here as a community foundation head. I know I’m not the external face. But I’m someone who’s passionate about what happens in our community. And having Black children and having Black brothers and sisters, this is a real issue. So I came up with my own resources of $25,000. And I set up the first-ever fund here in Orange County for African Americans, where there’s only 1% to 2% African Americans living in the county. So I became the first African American philanthropist for the foundation after 30 years of its being in existence. The fund started with $25,000 and now we’re at $500,000.
What are the biggest needs facing Black Americans in Orange County, and what does the fund do to tackle those issues?
Absolutely. Thank you for asking that question. When I think of raising awareness, and I think of systemic racism, how do we address that and social inequities, I think about five areas. One — education, the investment in education at all levels. Two — looking at health, because African Americans were greatly impacted by COVID, because we had the most underlying health conditions. COVID really took out many of my family members and friends. People that I’ve known for many years. Three — human services. There are just basic needs where we need wraparound services. Before you can get a student to learn, they need food in their stomach, they need the lights on, they need good Wi-Fi so they can do their homework remotely. Four — economic business development. George Floyd was accused of using a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Why is that? What means were out there for him to thrive? So we should be thinking more about getting Black business set up. Five — civic engagement. We do need to make sure that our communities are educated and informed about what decisions are being made on their behalf.
When I think about what we need in order to feel like we’re making an impact in the community, these are the five areas I focus on. And it’s not just in Orange County, because the demographic is so small. The African American Alliance Fund supports Orange County and surrounding communities, including Riverside County and San Bernardino. The demographics are shifting. Compton used to be predominantly Black. Now it’s Latinx. But we’re still here.
What are some of the things you’ve been most proud of since joining OCCF? And what is your biggest hope going forward?
You know, I’m super-proud of today. Today, we’re transforming our entire technology platform from Blackbaud to Salesforce. Our employees now have a very sophisticated tool for doing their work, for tracking donor activity and donor prospect activity. But we’re also enhancing the platform that will be used for our future donor base. So not only is it just for our internal use, but also, our external donors will start to experience a higher level of technology from OCCF. Remember, there is about to be a shift in demographics and a wealth transfer from boomers to millennials and Gen Xers. And they’re all into high tech. So I’m proud of the transformational work we’ve done in our art technology space.
As for my greatest hope, if we continue to put the greatest emphasis on people and culture, I am so hopeful that we’ll be prepared and positioned for our current workforce, our future workforce, and our future donor base. I am also really proud that we recently hired a director of people and culture, which is new. And we’re specifically focused on putting top talent in every seat. And today, I must say we have top talent. We only have 35 employees, but there is a high performer in every seat. And that comes with the investment in and focus on people and culture.