Tamara Reed Tran

Chief Development Officer

Tammy is a nonprofit executive, strategist, author, and speaker with more than 20 years of experience advancing mission-driven organizations through philanthropy, strategic communications, relationship building, and organizational leadership.

As Chief Advancement Officer at Marillac Saint Vincent, Tammy provides leadership and strategic oversight for fundraising, marketing, and communications. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles at Impact for Equity (formerly BPI), UCAN, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Dystonia Medical Foundation, Rush University Medical Center, and Volunteers of America of Illinois.

Deeply committed to community and civic leadership, Tammy serves as Board Chair for Just Roots Chicago and is the incoming Board Chair for A Step Ahead Chess. She also serves on the board of Peace Runners 773 and is a member of The Executives’ Club of Chicago.

Tammy brings her experience and perspective to audiences as a speaker and presenter on topics related to nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, fundraising, communications, organizational development, and community impact. Her presentations draw on decades of experience working with nonprofit executives, boards, donors, community partners, and emerging leaders.

She is also the creator of Unbound: Black History, Our History, an immersive digital storytelling project that explores Black history through an interconnected collection of stories spanning resistance, creativity, community, and transformation. Designed to bridge past and present, Unbound encourages audiences to see Black history as living history and to consider how memory, storytelling, and truth shape our understanding of the world today.

Tammy is also a children’s book author whose published works include The Sun Is Out and A Birthday at the Zoo. Through her writing, she celebrates children, families, curiosity, diversity, and connection.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Chicago.

Words I Live By

“One of the most beautiful truths about being human is this:
we all carry an inherent capacity to care.”