impact
Collaboration
joy
FIRST-GEN GRADUATE
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PROUD MOM & WIFE
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RUNNER
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AUTHOR
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NONPROFIT FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE
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STRATEGIC IMPACT ADVISOR
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NEXT CHAPTER: PHILANTHROPY
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FIRST-GEN GRADUATE ✦ PROUD MOM & WIFE ✦ RUNNER ✦ AUTHOR ✦ NONPROFIT FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE ✦ STRATEGIC IMPACT ADVISOR ✦ NEXT CHAPTER: PHILANTHROPY ✦
Tammy Tibbetts pairs bold vision with disciplined execution to create lasting impact.
Tammy Tibbetts is a nonprofit founder, CEO, and advisor whose career has elevated girls through education, leadership, and systems change. She is pursuing her next role at a foundation — using her experience as a grantee and champion of grassroots organizations to deepen impact through more inclusive, effective philanthropy.
As the founding CEO of She’s the First for 16 years, Tammy scaled her idea for an advocacy campaign into a robust international organization, registered in the U.S. and Kenya, that ultimately reached over 1 million girls and 800+ community organizations. She mobilized $18 million in funding, developed national partnerships with major brands like Estée Lauder, Anthropologie, and Barbie; nurtured relationships with diverse stakeholders, from grassroots leaders and girls to foundations, media, and celebrities; and fueled coalition-building efforts among NGOs and funders.
In 2025, Tammy led She's the First through a strategic merger, setting an uncommon example in the sector, one driven by vision and values over ego. During the 2026 integration year, she serves as Chief Advisor to Girl Rising — shaping the mission, strategy, and culture of the merged entity.
Entrepreneurial at heart, Tammy has been the first person to fill every job she’s ever held. Before her nonprofit career, she was the first-ever social media editor of Seventeen magazine and led innovative girl-centered projects for Hearst Digital Media.
Tammy authored Impact: A Step-by-Step Plan to Create the World You Want to Live In (Hachette PublicAffairs, 2020 hardcover and 2023 paperback), reviewed by presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman as “your guide for how to make change in a world that desperately needs it.”
Tammy is a Diane von Furstenberg People’s Voice Award and Women in Innovation Award winner, a three-time TEDx speaker, and a first-generation college graduate who later became a trustee of her alma mater, The College of New Jersey. After being an International Women’s Forum 2024-2025 Fellow, she joined the Women’s Forum of New York, where she serves on the Education Fund Committee.
When she’s not in Brooklyn with her husband, son, and mini poodle, her favorite place to be is Edinburgh, Scotland.
After my one-year term as Chief Advisor to Girl Rising, I want to bring everything I've learned on the nonprofit side into a career in philanthropy. This might be an Executive Director role at a family foundation or a Program Officer role at a larger foundation.
By leading an ‘intermediary’ organization for nearly two decades, I was both a grantee myself and a grantmaker to grassroots organizations. This dual experience is rare and shaped my passion for philanthropy, along with skills that directly translate:
Empathy with grantees and fluency in working across wide cultural and contextual differences. I know what "beyond the check" support looks like when it works (and what gets in the way).
Excellence in building diverse networks of grantee partners and funders. I led co-funding models involving multiple donors, fostering knowledge sharing among funders and grantees.
Power-balancing management style. I led a multi-cultural staff across time zones and grew a Board of Directors from start-up to maturity.
Please let me know if you see an opportunity for 2027!
WHat’s next
CHAMPION OF STRATEGIC MERGERS & PARTNERSHIPS
Having led She's the First through a strategic merger in 2025, I guide teams through change with care and clarity. I facilitate power-balancing within new structures, inspiring healthy co-creation of culture and norms. I navigate the emotional and logistical complexity of a merger with quick thinking, deep attention to detail, and contagious joy — and bring that same energy to every collaboration I lead. I am a skilled networker who knows how to bring the right people together for a mutual win.
STRONGER TOGETHER
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STRONGER TOGETHER ✦
speaker & author
I am often invited to share my leadership story and lessons, speak to nonprofit trends and solutions, and facilitate impact-oriented workshops. I’m an upbeat keynote speaker, panelist, and podcast guest who leaves audiences inspired. You’d never guess I was voted Most Shy in high school.
I write a monthly Substack, have published articles in Stanford Social Innovation Review and Candid, and have appeared on CNN, TodayShow, and MSNBC.
FROM MY NETWORK
“Every once in a while, you meet someone who is the epitome of eloquence. Someone who inspires you with her gentle strength, loving heart and fierce determination to make this world a better place. That woman is Tammy Tibbetts.”
“Tammy Tibbetts is the kind of leader every organization needs—grounded, thoughtful, and highly effective. She brings a calm, steady presence paired with a clear ability to turn vision into action. What stands out most is her range. Tammy moves seamlessly from the boardroom to the field—engaging funders and directors with strategic clarity while building deep, trusted relationships with grassroots leaders and the girls at the center of the work. That ability to hold both spaces with authenticity and intention is rare.”
“Tammy taught me about the nitty-gritty of running an impactful and transformational organization. It’s from her quiet leadership and experience that I learnt how to remain centered, focused and committed to growing Life Lifters into the organization it is today. ”
“Tammy is thoughtful, disciplined, and deeply committed. Her insights have helped us as we evaluate organizational effectiveness and think through our grantmaking strategies. She approaches her work with integrity and a clear sense of purpose, and would be a strong addition to any team.”
can i amplify your impact?
let’s connect.
