Tami Hicks on transitioning from education to nonprofit leadership

Tune in to the Inspiring Good podcast for a compelling conversation with Tami Hicks, where we explore her leadership journey and the extensive programs under her guidance at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elkhart County. Discover the club’s diverse initiatives, from robust music and creative arts programs to esports and mental health support. Tami also shares her personal advocacy for Angelman Syndrome, driven by the experience with her son, Ethan, highlighting her multifaceted contributions to the community.

00:01:03: Personal Background and Early Connection between Hosts

00:01:26: Transition from Public Education to Nonprofit Sector

00:03:19: Shifting Career Path to CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs

00:05:54: Learning and Achievements as CEO

00:08:32: Navigating a Complex Governance Structure

00:09:01: Expansion and Community Support for Youth Development

00:10:28: Programs and Activities for Youth at the Boys and Girls Club

00:13:21: Addressing the Needs and Challenges of Teens

00:14:33: Personal Story: Living with Angelman Syndrome

00:15:56: Advisory Role in the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics

00:16:54: Local Support Agencies for Special Needs Community

00:18:51: The Role and Changes in the Nonprofit Sector

00:20:06: Community support and collaboration

00:20:32: Changes in the nonprofit realm

00:20:57: Challenges faced by kids today

00:21:15: Generational perspectives on kids

00:21:52: Influence of external factors on youth

00:22:10: Needs of children: love, structure, and discipline

00:22:37: Evolution of adult responses

00:22:41: Introduction to Albert, the therapy dog

00:23:06: Albert’s role and benefits

00:24:19: Hero for Our Youth award

00:24:31: Government advocacy and top 100 awards

00:25:00: Operation Impact and club metrics

00:25:50: Challenges in board governance and fundraising

00:26:25: Transitioning and adapting to fundraising

00:26:47: Importance of storytelling in fundraising

00:27:07: Balancing home and work in a fast-paced job

00:28:06: Managing time and setting boundaries

00:29:00: Vision for Boys and Girls Club’s future

00:31:01: Confidence in leadership and community support

00:31:40: What gives hope: the kids

00:32:01: Show credits and acknowledgments 

This show is a production of the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. It is powered by equipment from Sweetwater and recorded in The Riverbend building in Elkhart's River District. Editing is done by the award-winning communication students at Goshen College, home of one of the best college radio stations in the nation. Listen to Globe Radio at 91.1 FM. Learn more about the Community Foundation of Elkhart County at inspiringgood.org You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Music is provided by Sensational Sounds. Thanks for listening. We hope you are inspired and inspire good and your community.

Chapters

• 1:26 Transition from public education to nonprofit sector
• 5:54 Learning and Achievements as CEO
• 13:21 Addressing the Needs and Challenges of Teens
• 14:33 Personal Story: Living with Angelman Syndrome
• 21:15 Generational perspectives on kids
• 25:00 Operation Impact and club metrics
• 31:40 What gives hope: the kids

Transcript

Marshall King:
Welcome to the Inspiring Good Podcast.
This podcast is brought to you by the Community foundation of Elkhart county, which serves a vibrant community in Northern Indiana, known for its generosity and strong network of nonprofit organizations.
I'm Marshall King, your co host with Kevin Deary, a veteran nonprofit CEO who now coaches others.
Our guest today is Tami Hicks, who is president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elkhart county.
Bringing more than 17 years of experience in education and a passion for empowering youth through impactful community programs.
She is a dedicated advocate for children with special needs and a mother to a son with Angelman syndrome.
Tami blends personal experience with professional leadership to create inclusive and innovative opportunities for all.
Welcome, Tami.

Tami Hicks:
Thank you, Marshall.

Kevin Deary:
Tami, it is so good to have you here in our podcast today.
Obviously, we've known each other a long time, so we want to make sure we tell our audience that I've known you for probably eighth grade.

Tami Hicks:
Seventh.

Kevin Deary:
Eighth grade.
So it's a privilege to have you not only as a colleague in the nonprofit world, but also as a friend.
So this is a fun one.
I've been looking forward to this.

Tami Hicks:
I'm excited to be here and out.

Marshall King:
Of the gate, just in case there are listeners who don't know.
Tami now has the job that you.

Kevin Deary:
Used to have, Kevin, and doing it much better.
Oh, so, no, I'm so, so grateful to have.
It's a Boys and Girls Club, and you are the first woman CEO of the Boys and Girls Club, and I could not be more proud of that.
So.
And not to mention just the kind of character you are, but.
Well, not only the character you have, but the character you are, because you have a lot of character.
Tell me about your transition from public education.
You.
You were on a fast Track.
You're now Dr.
Hicks, so congratulations on that.

Tami Hicks:
Thank you.

Kevin Deary:
And you were on this fast track to be superintendent or anywhere or to be.
You had 17 years in public education.
But tell me about that transition.
Why did you choose to be a teacher?
And then tell me what happened that transitioned away from that and into social work.

Tami Hicks:
Yeah.
So I was that kid that my parents would take me to the library when there were book sales, and I would buy the old textbooks, and then I would line up my stuffed animals and we would play school when I was really little.
So I wanted to be a teacher from the get go.
But then I'd always divert to, well, maybe I want to do this, or maybe I want to do this instead.
But I always kept coming back to teaching, and so went through school, became a teacher started with seventh grade social studies.
Love, love that seventh grade.
Age 12, 13 year old kid.
But that's for another podcast.
And so we just.
Because people kept tapping me on the shoulder and saying, hey, have you ever thought about this?
And they would say, have you ever thought about this?
And it would be the next step that I would take in my career.
Have you thought about being an administrator?
Have you thought about this?
Have you thought about that?
And I hadn't until people said, I think you would be really good at this.
So then I would think about it and then I would take that next step and I would do it and learn and continue to learn.
So going from teacher to administrator was a big shift.
And then I wasn't looking to leave public education at all.
That wasn't my goal.
But I knew in my heart I did not want to be a superintendent.
And through my research for my doctorate, you know, the average career span of a superintendent in the state of Indiana at one position is two and a half years.
And so unless I wanted to move my family or be in a very incredibly stressful position, I have a lot of respect and admiration for people who are willing to be in those roles leading school districts.
I just knew it wasn't for me at this time in my life.
And so I say it was a God moment when I received a phone call that said, hey, have you ever thought about maybe becoming CEO of a nonprofit, putting your name in for this position?
And it was, it was a God moment.
And I thought about it and talked to my family about it and decided to go for it and so transitioned into that space.
If it was meant to be, it would be.
And here I am.

Kevin Deary:
So I know that you are well known and well respected and have a really good, strong peer group of principals and teachers and people that have become good friends for you.
I mean like decades old friends.
When you told them what, of what you were planning on doing, what did they say?

Tami Hicks:
A lot of them being colleagues were like, oh, but that makes a lot of sense, Tami.
Like, I could see you in that position.
That makes a lot of sense.
And so there was that, that bittersweet of we wouldn't be working together anymore so closely, but I would still be working for the same mission, still working with the kids, just in a very different capacity.
And so I think my friend group, my peers were like, yeah, this makes sense.
It's very clear that you should follow this and go into that field.
And then we've all kept in touch and still work together because we still, they're not their kids and they're not my kids.
They're our kids.

Kevin Deary:
When you went home and told your husband, what did he say?

Tami Hicks:
What?
He said what?
What?
But my husband's a saint, an absolute saint.
And so he just sat there and listene to me explain it and he's like, whatever you want to do, if that's what you think you're called to do, then let's do it.
So he was a part of the conversation that I had with the former CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elkhart county, asking what would I really be getting into?
What is this really all about?

Kevin Deary:
So you just celebrated your second year anniversary?

Tami Hicks:
Yeah, I did.

Kevin Deary:
As president and CEO, I did.
So what have you learned?

Tami Hicks:
Oh my gosh.
Well, how long is this podcast?
We could talk for a long time.
I think what I one of the biggest things that I have learned through this process is how incredibly supportive our community truly is of our youth.
When I was working within the schools, I was in my own world.
I was so focused on the X, Y and Z of day to day business in educating kids.
I wasn't exposed to the nonprofit side of our community.
And so, you know, it's 1.2 million to run a club at least.
And to know that this is a nonprofit and our community is supporting that to do these incredible things with our kids has been really humbling and eye opening.
So you set me up very well with incredible board members that have been nothing but support and have guided me in making decisions.
And I think that that is a best practice, is having strong boards.
And if those things would not have been in place, I don't know that I would be that we as an organization would be where we are today.

Marshall King:
I want to ask about that because as someone who is not as the only person in the room who has not held the job that you have, there are six boards for this organization.
That is a lot of bosses.
I know that you're going to speak carefully here, but that's a particularly unique challenge for this organization.
How do you navigate that?

Tami Hicks:
Yeah.
So you know to get too technical, but went back to the bylaws say what do the bylaws say about how to navigate that?
And so again, another best practice would be having that defined within your bylaws and your governing body being able to know what the roles and responsibilities are.
So our four advisory boards are advisory boards and we have roles and responsibilities and they report, if you will, to the board of trustees is the governing body of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elkhart County.
And it is a lot, but I feel like I have 100.
We have 136 now.
I think I have 136 champions out there in the community advocating for us.
Anything I need, I can call and say, hey, we need this.
And within an instant, that's great.

Marshall King:
And Kevin will give you an A for that answer.
So it's five boards, not six, right?
Six.
It is six.

Tami Hicks:
Yeah.
Those are foundation boards.

Marshall King:
Okay.
All right.

Kevin Deary:
So it is a very complex governance structure and one that draws a lot of attention from those who think, how do you do that?
Which is many times, I'm sure you ask yourself, how do we do that?
But then you can't recreate 136 community owners like that that feel this connection to the children through you and through the mission.
But it's funny, the name is boys and girls schools of El Carica county, but your tentacles go far and wide and they are expanding even further.
And maybe you could talk about kids care and talk about the tentacles and how far out they're going.

Tami Hicks:
Sure.
So we, you know, our mission is to inspire and empower all youth to reach their full potential.
And so when we take a look at that and we look at the youth out there that don't have these incredible opportunities that we provide through club, we have expanded into Noble county and Steuben county with MSD school district and working with teens there, those intermediate, fifth through eighth grade teens.
And we're running that through our kids care division and just giving them a taste of the programming that we're able to do, the relationship building that we're able to have with kids.
So they know every day after school, this person will be there for me and I can tell them about my day and building those relationships.
But those communities have been very supportive too, in that and that they want their kids and their youth to have these after school youth development experiences.
And so we're going to meet the needs where the needs are and slowly and carefully.
But it is.
It's really exciting to get into these other communities as well, as well as growing within Elkhart County.
So now we have a great teen group working at Concord schools.
We have a kids care at Fairfield now.
And so we are in every single school district in Elkhart county and providing opportunities for all kids in our county with room to grow.

Kevin Deary:
How many children do you serve?

Tami Hicks:
We have 4000 members.

Kevin Deary:
4000 members.

Tami Hicks:
4000 members now.
And we serve about 7 to 8,000 come through our doors at some point during the year.

Kevin Deary:
If I was A parent and I just relocated here and I wanted to bring my children, which I believe the ages were 6 to 18.
What activities and programs are at the Boys and Girls Club that my kids could do?

Tami Hicks:
Oh my goodness.
So there are so many.
We have music programs for kids.
So we're putting instruments in their hands at a very young age.
You know, we have second graders that are really good percussion players and we have through Echo Systema, we have Echo sings, we have choir.
So our music programs are great, especially at our Goshen Club.
We have teen programming for our teens.
We have leadership character development through Keystone.
We have youth of the Year, which is a great scholarship opportunity for our kids.
And the youth of the year for each club goes on to compete for a countywide winner title.
And then they go on to the state and they meet a plethora of other kids and networking and money towards college.
And it's just life changing for these, these teens to be able to go through things like that.
We had first and second graders that were designing their own bags and then they learned to sew on a sewing machine and they made their bags and then the older kids made clothing and we had a fashion show with an actual Runway and photographers and music.
And it was absolutely.
It was just.
It was, it was amazing.
It was absolutely amazing.
And it touched your heart to see these kids, you know, model their own clothing that they designed.
It was incredible.
So, you know, people said you're having six and seven year olds work in a sewing machine.
Well, yeah.
And so I wish that was a skill that I still remembered how to do.
So that just touches the surface.
We have athletics and sports galore.

Kevin Deary:
I think some of the things that happen, what you have done with the arts program is incredible.
Not everybody plays sports.
The introduction of how to properly use EA Sports and all the video games and all the things that really in somewhat can steal a childhood from just because their time is so involved in that and how you guys have evolved that into education, but also competition and fun and using it to attract kids into the programs.
I think teenagers are very hard to program for.

Tami Hicks:
They are just.

Kevin Deary:
Teenagers are just tough.
I used to be one a long time ago.
And what's some of the key things that you do to attract and to keep teens?

Tami Hicks:
You know, that's something that we're having a lot of conversation about right now too.
Not to bring up the C word, Covid, but before COVID after Covid, there was a decrease in teens coming to club and decrease in teens and extra co curricular Things at schools too.
And so where are these kids going and what is it that they need?
And I don't think they know what they need, but by doing things like esports.
So we do have esports and we have LEGO robotics and we have competitive LEGO robotics and we have mental health help.
We have, you know, three licensed social workers that work within our clubs and a therapy dog.
And we're able to work with kids and talk about different ways of handling emotions.
And there's probably no greater time of emotions and turmoil than when you're a teenager.
And you know, we have stories of kids learning from our Natashas and learning from our Leahs and then going into the social work field themselves because they were inspired by the club and what they learned at the club.

Kevin Deary:
You have social workers, we have social workers, MSWs, BSWs, educated, certified.
Because the need is so strong.

Tami Hicks:
It is.
It really is.

Kevin Deary:
Let me transition just a little bit.
Tell me about Angelman syndrome.

Tami Hicks:
Oh yeah.
So my son ethan just turned 24 and he's living with Angelman syndrome.
It is a genetic disorder or disease that affects the 15th chromosome.
So without getting too scientific, he is non verbal.
He has suffers from seizures, scoliosis, he's got rods and pins and screws in his back.
It just, it's a complex, rare genetic disorder that is marked by his happiness.
And so people living with Angelman syndrome are happy 80, 90% of the time and laughing hysterically, really loudly, even at very inappropriate times.
So it used to be called happy Puppet syndrome a long time ago, before Dr.
Harry Angelman discovered the gene that was affected in the mutation.
But Ethan is the most pure soul I have ever met.
He's my hero.
I cry at a paper cut.
He has major back surgery and he's fine.
So he's just the definition of endurance and ambition and determination and stubbornness and happy.
He's just a pure soul.

Kevin Deary:
And you have got involved at the national level?

Tami Hicks:
I have, yeah.

Kevin Deary:
Tell us a little bit about that.

Tami Hicks:
So I'm on the an advisory council for the foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics.
And the purpose of FAST is to find a cure or find a way to make the lives of people living with Angelman syndrome better.
And so a lot of money and a lot of resources go into funding research to find a cure for Angelman syndrome as well as educating the public on what is Angelman syndrome and what we're doing.
And we raise millions of dollars every year that we then turn over to researchers, pharmaceutical companies, colleges and universities, private labs, and we make sure that they are researching.
And then every year they come back and report to us.
And there are several clinical trials, some that are going into phase three.
So that is very, very exciting, because if we can find a way to make life better for our people with Angelman syndrome, it will impact other rare disorders and diseases as well.

Kevin Deary:
Who are some of the local agencies that you and your husband have been able to utilize in Ethan's life?

Tami Hicks:
Yeah, Riverview Adult Day Center.
So in Elkhart, there is a.
They have been an absolute blessing.
So Riverview and Nikki and her team at Riverview take Ethan and let him join them during the day so that he's not at home all day.
There really aren't a lot of resources for adults with.
With special needs in Elkhart county.
And that is something that I personally feel needs to change.
But I have been blessed with Riverview and what they have done for us and Ethan.
And where do they work out of Trinity Lutheran.
Yeah, Trinity Methodist.
Trinity Methodist Church.
The big beautiful church on Jackson, right across from the river.
And Al's club is there as well.
So Riverview has been great.
And then a rosy place in South Bend, they have been an absolute blessing as well.
And what they do for the special needs community.
If you ever get a chance to go tour there, please do.

Kevin Deary:
And it's a hospital.

Tami Hicks:
It is.

Kevin Deary:
I mean, they have medical professionals there to give parents a short term or even sometimes a week or two if parents are wanting to get away.
And that they know that not only do they have recreational, but they are there for all the medical needs.
And you know that you can take a break and know that they're in great hands with the rosy place.

Tami Hicks:
And he gets one on one care.
He gets a nurse with him at all times.
And then I love picking him up.
He does not like being picked up from a rosy place.
That's his place.
That's his vacation.
But he always has some kind of artwork that he has made.
And since Ethan has transitioned out of school, I don't.
I don't.
I do through Riverview.
But it's just nice to get those art pieces that he's made.
And they're starting Heartwork Studio.

Kevin Deary:
That go on your refrigerator?

Tami Hicks:
Yes, that go on the refrigerator.
So a rosy place has been a blessing and a godsend as well.

Kevin Deary:
The nonprofit sector, nonprofit landscape.
There are so many stories in people and families that society sometimes forgets or marginalize.
And the nonprofit sector is such an important part.
Church is used to fill in a lot of these gaps, but it's been able to surpass the need, the abilities for the churches to fill in.
Can you talk a little bit about in the non profit, what are you seeing on the nonprofit sector?
Because you've only been in two years as far as the CEO obviously working with angel man syndrome.
But what does the changing landscape look like in the nonprofit world?
Locally and maybe more.

Tami Hicks:
And we're talking all avenues of nonprofit, not just youth development.
Oh, wow.
So I see a lot of people retiring.
And so with a generation retiring brings in a new generation of people to take the reins and to move forward with these nonprofits.
And so a lot of us are new to our roles and we in Elkhart county especially have bonded really closely.
I don't know if this is something new, but it's something I see is that we all relate to one another.
We call and we talk to each other.
We support one another.
We know that we are sharing donors, we know that we are sharing resources.
We know that if Boys and Girls Clubs of Elkhart county is not doing well, then, you know, CAPS is going to see that.
And so we know that we depend on each other to wrap our arms around our community and move it forward.

Marshall King:
Timmy, along those lines, I mean, Kevin asked about the nonprofit realm and what's changing.
I'm curious from you, but also even from Kevin.
You hear kids these days.
When I was a kid, people tend to do the sentimental thing, whether it's true or not, and talk about the changes of, well, kids just aren't the same or I don't always believe them.
But I also know that kids these days, if you want to use that phrase, are facing challenges that many of us didn't face when we were kids.
Can you tell us about that?
Like how are kids the same or different and what's different about what they're facing?

Tami Hicks:
I would love to.
And it's interesting because my mom is substitute teaching out there and so she is experiencing kids these days too.
So we've got a couple different generational perspectives on that.
Kids are kids.
I firmly believe I could even go into science and research on kids are the same, kids are kids.
And it is the external impacts and the external factors that are impacting them on a day to day basis that have changed.
So it's because of the developments with technology and the developments with what's culturally acceptable and not those are the things that have changed, not the kids.
Now I will say that those things have influence over our youth and so it changes their perspectives and their priorities in life.
I also think parenting has changed and so when you take a look at all those external factors and then you look at the child, they need love, structure, and discipline.
And discipline.
The root of that means to learn.
And it's rooted in the word disciple.
So when you take a look at the kids, they still need those things.
And I would argue to say that those were the same things kids needed in 1802 and 17 and going back as long as we've been humans on this earth.
So it's an evolution, and I think the way that adults are responding to it has also changed.
And.
Yeah, I don't know if that answered it.

Kevin Deary:
Tell me about Albert.

Tami Hicks:
Oh, gosh, he's the biggest kid.
Albert.
Our boy Albert.
So Albert was an idea having a therapy dog.
So now when you go into an airport, they have therapy dogs.
Funeral homes, hospitals, schools have therapy dogs.
And with having a strong mental health program through our club network, I wanted to make sure that we could add this component, too.
So Albert is a therapy dog.
We purchased him from Top Notch Therapy Dogs Service Dogs in Elkhart, and she picked the dog and trained him.
He went through intense training for over a year and then was certified.
So now he works with.
There are four of us that are his mom's, and he's a goldendoodle, and he has white hair that's everywhere, thus the name.
Albert looks like Einstein when he's not groomed.
And he has been an absolute blessing, not only for kids, but for staff, too.
So, I mean, I've curled up on the floor with Albert and had a moment, and it's just so much fun and so nice to have him.
He doesn't judge kids, so kids will tell him their secrets a lot, like stable grounds and what they do with.
But the horses.
Kids relate to Albert.
They read to Albert.
Albert's not going to judge their reading abilities or judge them for the way they feel about their friend or.
And we've used Albert in so many different ways, like getting a kid back in the room he needed to be in.
You know, just it's.
Yeah.
If you ever get a chance to meet Albert, please do.
I wish he would quit eating our socks.
Yeah.

Kevin Deary:
So you and the Boys and Girls Club just won a Hero for our youth award.
Tell us about that.

Tami Hicks:
So we had a government advocacy award, and then we had like a top 100.

Kevin Deary:
I know.
It's hard to distinguish all the awards.
Tell us about both.

Tami Hicks:
Okay.
Okay.

Marshall King:
Says the guy who got a whole bunch of them himself.

Tami Hicks:
I know.
So we're part of a Midwest region, and our Midwest region, we have goals.
And we're calling our strategic plan Operation Impact.
And so in the Midwest, there are, you know, total.
Nationally, there are over 5,000 clubs.
And so we were one of the top first 100 to meet all the metrics for Operation Impact.
So making sure that we are trauma informed.
Everyone on our staff is trauma informed.
Making sure that we are doing evaluations of our programming.
Do our programs work?
Do kids like them?
You know, we know when, as you would say, kids vote with their feet.
So when they're in those doors, we know that it's working.
The first to make sure that we.
Some accountability measures and things.
But growing membership and growing our adp.
It's average daily participation now.
So we tackle that immediately.
And my team is incredible.
And they got that done and we were able to celebrate.

Kevin Deary:
Congratulations.

Tami Hicks:
Yeah, thank you.

Kevin Deary:
There sure are a lot of acronyms, aren't there?

Tami Hicks:
There are, there are.

Kevin Deary:
Your transition from education, which has their own acronyms over to Boys and girls clubs, has been hugely successful.
Probably one of the.
There are two areas that I'm sure that when you came into, you knew kids.
You love kids.
That was easy.
You're disciplined, you're structured, you're.
You're smart.
You can research, you can communicate, you can brand once you learned the mission, really.
But learning how to work with 137 board members in different communities, too urban, too rural, is quite a challenge.
But then also there's the fundraising aspect.
Most of your money comes from the community and grants.
Places like the United Way, the Community foundation, other foundations.
But talk about that transition into the fundraising and the board governance, leading that many board members and also how it ties to funding.

Tami Hicks:
Yeah, so that has been my biggest area of growth would be the resource development piece of it and asking for money.
And, you know, it's been interesting watching those that do it very well and learning from them.
I've talked to Pete about, hey, how do you do this?
Give me your what do you do?
How do you plan?

Kevin Deary:
And Pete would be Pete McCown.

Tami Hicks:
Yes.
And Kevin, you've taught me things.
And I'm learning the importance of storytelling and sharing.
What we're doing connects to people's hearts.
And then oftentimes, maybe I shouldn't even say this out loud, but oftentimes you don't even have to do an ask.
Like they see it and they want to support it.
I love it when people say, what can I do to help?
And that opens the door.
But yeah, sharing the passion and wanting people to invest in us is something that is key.
It's my number one role is, you know, the fundraising aspect of it.
And there are so many different things that we have to cover to keep the lights on.
And so making sure that I'm out there and meeting people and people are introducing me to other people and then, and then doing the ask and sharing our story has been.

Kevin Deary:
So it is definitely a fast paced job.

Tami Hicks:
It is.

Kevin Deary:
But the balance between home and work, tell me how that has changed and how you prioritize that from 17 years as an educator and administrator, which has pretty much many times summers off or a set schedule around the children's schedules, but then all of a sudden there is no off time in this new job.

Tami Hicks:
So as a principal, you do get about three weeks off and that's really the time when you do your trainings and you catch up on everything.
Right.
But this position, I'm on the go all the time.
I'm not in one building working with one set of kids.
I'm working with adults and kids and parents.
So what I have found is that it is wonderful and refreshing to be able to be out running around in the community all day long.
And so that gets me going and it gets me excited and I love it.
I absolutely love it.
So it's very different in that I get a lot of windshield time, but I get a lot done thanks to Siri.
I talk to her a lot and make my phone calls and do things that way.
But I'm always on the go to somewhere and I think, you know, I have to be able to sit down and catch up.
Right.
And so that, that's time management has been something that I'm working on and my family is very supportive and I do take, I do take.
I try to take Sacred Sunday or Sacred Saturday and shut it all off just for my mental well being and health and, you know, set clear, clear boundaries up front.

Kevin Deary:
So my last question for you because Marshall always closes out with one of my favorite questions that he'll ask.
But I want to ask you, moving into the future, what's your vision for the Boys and Girls club and for yourself?

Tami Hicks:
Yeah.
So moving into the future, depending on if we're looking at three, five, ten years down the road.
I envision us as being a key player in workforce development for our teens and youth.
With the change in the diploma requirement and the, the things that are put on schools, families, we are a key player in that.
And so I envision a lot of, a lot of focus on teens and workforce development.
I also see increased programming and growth within our with our elementary school programming and even the academic piece and making sure that we are supporting kids more.
I mean, we are doing it now, but supporting them even more in their academic journeys because, you know, our goal is to make sure that they can support succeed as adults.
That's a really, really brief, quick explanation of that.

Kevin Deary:
I have one other question that's timestamped here.
IU or Notre Dame?

Tami Hicks:
Iu.
Go.
Hoosiers all the way.

Marshall King:
So, you know, Tami, when you took this role, people talked about filling Kevin's shoes.

Tami Hicks:
Yeah.

Marshall King:
And I'm sitting in a room with the two of you and Kevin's wearing brown brogue, like kind of like dress shoes and you're wearing high heels.
And I just want to point out that the confidence in this community and your leadership and what they've seen over the last two years and the delight that you bring to this work and the graciousness that you are doing this work with is noticed.
And that was in some ways following Kevin's footsteps.
But it's also walking your own path and it's been fun to see that happen.

Tami Hicks:
Thank you.
Thank you.

Marshall King:
We do always close with the question of what gives you hope?

Tami Hicks:
It's interesting because hope is really my middle name.
So my name is Tamara Hope.
What gives me hope would be our kid.
I mean, our kids give me hope.
And every single day they surprise me and I'm like, man, you know, we are going to be in good hands when I'm old.
This generation is going to take care of us well.
And that gives me hope.

Marshall King:
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