Contributing to the greater social good of people, specifically children, has been ingrained in Tawny from a young age. Growing up, her greatest influence was her grandmother who was a public school educator in Washington State and tireless child advocate who was the driving force behind many programs and services, including Safe Harbor Crisis Nursery (a safe house for abused women and children), the Benton-Franklin Council for Children (a child advocacy program for abused children in Washington State), and a nationally recognized preschool program for migrant kids. Tawny grew up with a deep sense of the importance of supporting children through education, services, and advocacy. Additionally, both of her parents worked in the public school system. Her mother was a middle school teacher and her step-father was a school psychologist.
When choosing her own college education, she knew it would be her grandmother’s and parents’ alma mater, Washington State University. A whole world opened for her as she fell in love with studying Social Sciences, particularly studies of inequality at the systemic level. She was passionate about her studies of children, women, and people of color. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences knowing that in any profession she chose the heart of it must be for the betterment of people’s lives.
Tawny’s professional career includes sales, marketing, and investor relations. Currently her primary focus is raising her two children, Ethan and Mia and she is a very active volunteer at their local public school. She is an elected member of the school’s Governing Council and Board Member for its non-profit that is committed to enhancing the general curriculum offered by LAUSD. This organization provides funding for programs such as art, music, theater, physical education, gardening and robotics. She is also a co-chair of the school’s largest fundraising campaign which raised over $375,000 in the 2023-24 school year. She has organized and overseen this campaign for three consecutive years. She has been involved with P.S. ARTS since 2020 and has been on the planning committee for Express Yourself since 2022.
In her free time, she enjoys tennis, reading, live music, exploring Los Angeles and spending time with friends and family.
