Tamara Scott

Social Media Marketing Manager, Vanguard

Years With Company: Nine

Causes I care about:

Financial literacy, health services, criminal justice reform, early childhood development

Where I’ve volunteered and why

Vanguard’s Strong Start for Kids program and My Classroom Economy – because investing in early childhood development is so important for long-term community success and because finance can be overwhelming for many people.

Fred’s Footsteps – because they provide financial relief to hard-working families who find themselves in crisis from the costs of caring for a seriously ill, injured or disabled child. A small but mighty team doing great work for the community that quantifies results for its supporters.

How I’ve used my professional experience for a nonprofit

I helped build “Friends of Fred’s” – their young professionals board. Four events raised more than $4,000 in the first year. I also recently started their Fellowship program, working with a team on a skills-based volunteer engagement program.

My “Aha” volunteer moments

No task is too small that might help someone else. Whether you’re cleaning an office as part of the MLK Day of Service or consulting on a marketing plan, there are so many ways to help nonprofits with what they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to pay for.

Pay attention to what the community needs in the moment – even if it is just listening to someone’s story. A peer did that rather than helping with the broader task at hand. We then brainstormed as a group and with agency staff were able to provide much-needed resources to that individual, along with many hugs of support.

Work/volunteer synergies

Vanguard has been incredibly supportive of employee volunteer engagement, which is one of the reasons I chose the company!

Coordinating events as a project lead during Days of Service gave me leadership experience, which helped on my journey to eventually becoming a supervisor.

When I joined a newly-formed Skills-based Volunteering program, we had to figure out team structure, technology and more.

Joining the Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Service team as the Relationship Manager lead gave me responsibilities vetting nonprofits, analyzing historical engagement and leading a team of volunteer Relationship Managers (RMs) who worked directly with nonprofits to coordinate events. This was tremendous learning experience in how to manage external needs with internal expectations, managing up and so much more.

Most recently, I’ve joined Vanguard’s Hometown Grants program, which supports critical services in our community. Not too long ago — right after I graduated from college — I was a grant writer asking for support of one local nonprofit. Now, through the professional and philanthropic coaching I’ve received over the years at Vanguard, I’ve come full circle and will be able to support many nonprofits over the next two years on my team.

The work/volunteer win-win

I’m so grateful for all the professional skills I’ve learned at Vanguard over the years, because I’m able to take the learnings and make real change in my community! I’m thrilled to be able to balance both head and heart to help make my community stronger while meeting Vanguard’s goals for impact.