PEOPLE OF PLANO: TAMMY RICHARDS

TAMMY RICHARDS STILL ADVOCATES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

story JOSHUA BAETHGE | photos KATHY TRAN

Many people may know Tammy Richards from her 11-year stint on the Plano ISD board. First elected in May 2010, she served three terms on the board and two stints as board president before deciding not to seek re-election earlier this year.

“I do miss it, although being a school board member is a more and more difficult challenge these days,” she says.

For the past eight years, she has worked as the CEO of Volunteer Now. The local nonprofit is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Volunteer Now serves a dual role in the philanthropic community. Its first mission is to connect about 3,500 local nonprofits with more than 100,000 volunteers in the area. Those nonprofits help with a wide array of causes including education, hunger, homelessness, animal welfare, the arts and more. In addition to connecting volunteers to the right organizations, Volunteer Now also trains nonprofits on things like how best to mobilize volunteers.

The second major role Volunteer Now performs is developing technology to better support nonprofits. With the help of renowned philanthropist Lyda Hill, it developed the Volynow.org software to better connect volunteers to the right cause.

Over the past two years, Richards says volunteers in education have been one of the community’s most pressing needs. As students transitioned to virtual learning last year, volunteers were enlisted to help with a variety of tasks. Some were as simple as preparing lesson packs for teachers or art packages for kids. She recalls a woman from Odessa who would regularly come to local schools and read. When the pandemic made that impossible, she began reading to her golden retriever at home and posting the videos online. The kids loved it.

“They would do it remotely but still feel that connection and still that help with their reading skills,” she says. “It never hurts if there’s a cute dog in the video either.”

This year, schools have an overwhelming need for tutors and mentors as kids work to catch up from months away from the classroom.

A common theme throughout Richards’ career has been her deep desire to be of service to others. She worked at Texas Instruments as a vice president of marketing, helping math and science teachers utilize technology to better teach complicated subjects. That led to a stint at SMU, working as an associate dean and chief operating officer in the school of engineering. Once again, she was tasked with helping introduce kids to STEM concepts and running outreach events for middle schools.

The nonprofit world is a tight-knit community with many people willing to help each other, sharing tips and resources. It’s an attitude she finds hopeful and encouraging, as well as an example for others to follow.

“I just want to encourage people to support their local schools and to support the administration,” she says. “It’s been incredibly challenging the last two years, and we all just need to extend a little grace.”P