The Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF) announced the appointment of Tammy Tumbling as its first chief operating officer and executive vice president, effective September 16, 2019. Tumbling brings over two decades of experience in corporate citizenship, utility operations and customer service to the position. She most recently served as director of government relations at Southern California Edison (SCE). During her tenure at SCE, she also managed the company’s $20 million philanthropic budget and provided strategic direction on funding programs and priorities.
“The fact that Tammy Tumbling is joining us as the first chief operating officer in our organization is an auspicious milestone as we celebrate our 30th anniversary this year,” said Shelley Hoss, OCCF president and CEO. “Over the last three decades we have achieved tremendous growth—placing us in the top 7 percent among U.S. community foundations in assets and the top 1 percent in granting—but we aspire to even greater impact in the years to come. We are confident that Tammy is the ideal person to help advance our mission.”
While at SCE, Tumbling served as director of philanthropy and community investment, corporate communications, where she allocated the company’s philanthropic budget to ensure that it most effectively met local needs, investing more than $150 million in Southern California communities during her tenure. Tumbling was also responsible for the planning and launch of SCE’s innovative $1 million Green Jobs Education Initiative, which provided funding to 10 California community colleges to support students enrolled in training programs for green jobs.
Prior to her tenure at SCE, Tumbling spent nearly a decade in the nonprofit sector. She served as director of corporate giving at the Music Center of Greater Los Angeles, where she raised in excess of $3 million for the organization’s education division while leading the grant-writing team and coordinating volunteers and special events. She had previously honed her nonprofit acumen at United Way of Greater Los Angeles by filling roles such as senior planner, in which she allocated funds and conducted needs assessments, and senior campaigner, where she aided in fundraising.
Tumbling is an alumna of California State University at Dominguez Hills, earning a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Public Administration. She is also a graduate of two community leadership programs–the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute and Leadership California. She is a board member of the American Association of Blacks in Energy, Western Energy Institute Women in Leadership National Mentor, and in 2019, received the Power, Leadership & Influence Community Leader Award from Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper. Her life experience has made her keenly aware of the value of education, the role it plays in personal and career advancement and the importance of mentoring and providing leadership where it is needed.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve our community,” said Tumbling. “From OCCF’s work helping veterans return to civilian life to providing at-risk teens with opportunities to overcome the challenges of poverty, I am excited to be a part of this dynamic team and eager to put my knowledge and experience to work serving the Orange County residents and surrounding communities.”
