Julie Baumgardner
Julie Baumgardner, president and CEO of First Things First, has been named the 2017 Chattanooga Area Manager of the Year. She will be honored with the award during a luncheon June 7.
Member organizations of Chattanooga Area Manager of the Year (CAMOY) award this annual honor, now in its 32nd year, to recognize an executive manager who has made significant contributions to the Chattanooga area.
“Julie Baumgardner possesses the heart of a servant leader and has the knowledge and attributes for mentoring tomorrow's leaders,” said Carolyn Stringer, chair of the 2017 CAMOY event. “It is with great pride that our committee selected Julie as the 2017 Manager of the Year.”
Since First Things First’s inception in 1997, Ms. Baumgardner has championed Chattanooga families, originally as associate director, and as head of the organization since 2001.
First Things First has raised more than $26,300,000 under Ms/ Baumgardner’s direction, and she leads a professional staff of 11, a diverse roster of 500 community volunteers and more than 3,000 donors who contribute gifts from $20 to $300,000.
“Every non-profit board on which I have served was comprised of exceptional people. But Julie is something different,” said Attorney James Hurst, Senior Partner at Hurst & Cromie. “She has the rare ability to act decisively and effectively while including everyone in the room in the process.”
Two benchmark programs created under her leadership make a significant economic impact: Dads Making a Difference, a 12-week class for fathers behind on child support payments, and Work Smart, Live Well, a career advancement program for underserved members of our community.
Dads Making a Difference has saved Hamilton County taxpayers nearly $8.5 million in incarceration-related expenses. At the request of employers who previously hired its graduates, Work Smart, Live Well has been rebranded as a worksite-based program which more than 40 area companies have implemented.
In addition to heading First Things First, Baumgardner is a Certified Family Life Educator, a Certified Crisis Intervener, a trained Prevention and Relationship Education Program facilitator and a graduate of the Chattanooga Chamber’s Leadership Chattanooga and Chattanooga Insight programs.
For 12 years, Ms. Baumgardner hosted “First Things First with Julie Baumgardner” on local PBS affiliate station WTCI and is working on a new show on a digital platform. Additionally, she writes a weekly column for the Chattanooga Times Free Press and regularly speaks at a variety of community organizations, businesses and churches.
Ms. Baumgardner’s extensive and wide-ranging community involvement has supported organizations from Big Brothers Big Sisters to March of Dimes to Kiwanis Club and many more.
She serves on the Chattanooga Rotary Club’s Board of Directors, as chair of the American Lung Association’s Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon and as a Hamilton County Juvenile Court commission member. Additionally, she serves on the board of the Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute, as the Curriculum Chair of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce Leadership Chattanooga program, a committee member for Chattanooga 2.0’s Early Learning Committee and as an Elder at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church.
The 2017 CAMOY Luncheon celebrates Ms. Baumgardner’s achievements June 7, at 11:30 a.m. at the Chattanoogan.
Individual tickets are $45; tables for eight are $450. Contact Valerie Gifford to reserve a spot at 423.634.3563 or info@camoy.org.
To learn more about the Chattanooga Area Manager of the Year Award, visit camoy.org. To learn more about First Things First, visit firstthings.org.