Tennessee Nonprofit Network launched three Community Action Councils (CACs) in 2024 to serve as ambassadors for our organization and be our “ears to the ground” in their local communities to unearth community needs and challenges. You can learn more about the full roster of CAC members here.
Phil Trammell is the Executive Director of the Nonprofit Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that serves other members of the Greater Chattanooga Area nonprofit community through education and training, mentoring, coaching, and resource connection so they can focus on what they do best, serving the community. Phil has previously served as the development head at Girls Inc of Greater Chattanooga, at WTCI, our local PBS television station and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga. Prior to that, he served as the chief development officer at Texas Woman’s University and the University of Dallas. Prior to his nonprofit career, Phil held various corporate positions in banking, telecommunications and cable television in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Thousand Oaks, California, Indianapolis, Indiana and spots in between, Phil has lived in Chattanooga since 2013 and is the proud father of daughter, Felicity, a first-grade teacher in Chico, TX.
What excites you about the work that Tennessee Nonprofit Network is doing?
Our nonprofits need help in developing their boards, their leadership skills and finding strength in numbers through collaboration, partnership and advocacy for their needs. TNN brings that to our nonprofit community and I’m excited to be a part of it.
What do you think the biggest challenges are for nonprofits right now?
Resources, whether it be staffing needs, financial needs, strengthening their boards or sharing experiences and expertise, building depth is the biggest challenge I see.
What do you love about the nonprofits in your area?
In so many places I’ve lived, people will see something that bothers them and say ‘someone should do something about that’. As long as I’ve lived here, people see things that bother them and say ‘I’m going to do something about that’. I love that!
Describe your role at Nonprofit Resource Center.
I’m the Executive Director of the Nonprofit Resource Center and every day is different. People present us with different challenges and opportunities every day and the variety of work that we’re able to do means that every day is a new adventure. They are all good days around here!
What do you like to do for fun?
I enjoy sports, music of all kinds, being outdoors, hanging out with people I respect and admire.
Name a nonprofit leader that inspires you.
My mentor is George Engdahl. George is one of the fundraisers featured in Jerold Panos’ book Born to Raise. He shared so much experience, expertise and wisdom with me at the start of my fundraising career that continues to make a difference for me to this day. I’m blessed to have stayed in touch and we remain good friends.
What’s your favorite movie and why?
There are so many to choose from, but I’ve always enjoyed Scent of a Woman. The discplinary hearing scene gets me every time.
Any book recommendations?
I just finished Erik Larson’s The Demon of Unrest. Definitely worth the read as are any of his books.
What change do you most want to see in the nonprofit sector?
I want everyone to recognize the great work that’s being done that wouldn’t get done were it not for the dedicated and unselfish people who take on the world’s most challenging problems every day and just keep showing up day after day to do it. They deserve our love and respect.
How can nonprofits in your area benefit from becoming a member of Tennessee Nonprofit Network?
None of us has every skill or experience we need to be the best we can be, but TNN provides fabulous resources that can be taken advantage of to build that tool kit for each of us. It’s affordable, even free for some things, accessible and has our best interests at its core.