We are excited to introduce Sarah Dittman, the Grants and Compliance Director at Children’s Advocacy Centers of Tennessee (CACTN), as a new member of our Community Action Council! Sarah resides just outside of Nashville in Ashland City, having moved from Tallahassee, Florida, three years ago to strengthen family relationships and career goals.
Sarah brings over 12 years of experience in nonprofit management, advocacy, data analysis, fundraising, and volunteer recruiting. Her mission is to support the growth and sustainability of nonprofits by securing and managing grants, and by creating programs that assist vulnerable populations.
Her inspiration to join the Community Action Council stems from a deep passion for every aspect of nonprofits. After working with over 40 Child Advocacy Center directors in Tennessee for several years, she recognized a significant need for additional support for nonprofit leaders and their teams, seeing this as a fantastic opportunity to expand that work on a larger scale.
Sarah’s love for nonprofits began during her time as an AmeriCorps VISTA, where she learned that nonprofits accomplish work that many other organizations cannot. She observes the unique challenges Tennessee nonprofits face, particularly regarding funding and training for their leaders, and believes much more can be done statewide to uplift these organizations.
During her time with Tennessee Nonprofit Network, Sarah hopes to increase mentorship opportunities for nonprofit leaders. She often hears individuals express feeling alone in their struggles and wants to ensure everyone working in this demanding field knows they are not.
A bonus of her move to Tennessee for her current role is being only 20 minutes away from her 88-year-old grandmother. They enjoy weekend dates, laughing and watching movies. Coming from a smaller family, Sarah cherishes this time with her. She also has an active 11-year-old lab mix named Ollie, an 80lb “lap dog.”
As Grants and Compliance Director for CACTN, a membership organization that supports over 40 Child Advocacy Centers across Tennessee, Sarah loves discussing successes, challenges, brainstorming new ideas with her teams, and seeing those ideas come to fruition.
Sarah is currently reading “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins. This book has been impactful, reminding her, especially in the nonprofit world, how crucial it is to allow space for others to succeed rather than taking on their workload.
Living just outside Nashville, Sarah feels she has the best of both worlds: quiet trails and country roads, balanced with access to fantastic concerts or Broadway plays.
While she generally loves movies, “The Breakfast Club“ is a must-watch whenever it’s on. She’s unsure if it’s nostalgia for the 80s or the music, but it’s a film she will never turn off.
Feeling relatively new to Middle Tennessee, Sarah loves walking on the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail.
It’s not a secret these days, but Sarah loves to run! She completed her longest run this year—a 15k in Jacksonville, FL—and is slowly training for her first half marathon in 2026.
If she could travel anywhere, Sarah would always choose Rhode Island. Part of her family is from the northeast, and she loves the history, ocean breeze, and food there.
Her advice for someone starting a career in the nonprofit sector is to “connect with others. Immediately. Right now. That will make you 10x more successful.”
Outside of her work with Tennessee Nonprofit Network, Sarah is fascinated by the criminal justice system. Having worked with courts in child welfare and human trafficking cases, she strives to learn more about how the system functions, and sometimes doesn’t, for people.
A fun fact about Sarah that she isn’t sure is fun or just funny is that she is deathly afraid of manatees.