Working within one of the city’s most “beautiful jewels,” Tamara Sheffield said she feels fortunate that she has been able to live out one of her personal mottos.
“I want to leave a footprint wherever I go,” said Sheffield, senior vice president of finance and operations at Forest Park Forever, “particularly one that makes the path better, easier to navigate or encourages possibilities for others.”
For the many people who love Forest Park, Sheffield’s work is quite literally leaving a better “path” for future generations.
The nonprofit Forest Park Forever is currently working with the City of St. Louis to complete $30 million in renovations for the approximately 1,300-acre park. Sheffield led the financial aspects on the $30-million bond deal with the city for that work, she said.
Since she arrived in 2011, she has improved the organization’s financial reporting and internal cash management practices, she said.
On Friday, November 20, Sheffield will receive The St. Louis American Foundation’s 2015 Non-Profit Executive of the Year award at the 16th annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon, which will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis. The networking reception begins at 11 a.m., and the luncheon program at noon.
Lesley S. Hoffarth, president of Forest Park Forever, said Sheffield has many great personal memories of this park.
“To come to a place that means so much to St. Louis and be able to help this organization on our journey to take care of this park forever,” Hoffarth said, “it’s something that means a lot to her personally. I can see that every day in just the passion and excitement that she brings to her job and passes that on to everyone she works with here.”
Not only does Sheffield manage finances, but she also handles all aspects of human resources management.
“To see her out in the park, working with our landscape professionals, planting bulbs or looking at a drainage problem somewhere, it’s great,” Hoffarth said. “She comes back all energized, saying, ‘I love working in this place.’ She really feels like this was her calling.”
Sheffield said it’s her personal mission to ensure that they are being proper stewards of funds and are protecting the interests of the donors and community.
“I am a CPA learning about horticultural practices,” she said. “It has made me more passionate about what I do.”
It’s also been an impactful experience for her to work around so many people who are just as passionate about maintaining the park, she said.
“We have a real story to tell about how we rally around each other to take care of this jewel,” she said.
Sheffield thrives in spaces where “there are no chartered pathways,” she said. She was the first African-American woman to become the audit manager in the St. Louis offices of Arthur Andersen & Co.
As an accountant, she was the first to lead a global employee program geared toward educating employees and communities about Biotechnology at Monsanto. And at Forest Park Forever, she is paving out her vice president position, a role strategically added four years ago to prepare for the organization’s growth and continued presence in the community.
Hoffarth said Sheffield was one of the first people she hired when she became president. Sheffield has been instrumental in developing the road map for how their organization will be working with the city in the future, she said.
“The experience that she has gained on the operations side of the house, coupled with the financial expertise she brought with her, is really the perfect combination of what we need right now for Forest Park Forever,” Hoffarth said.
The 16th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon will be held Friday, November 20 at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, with a networking reception at 11 a.m. and luncheon program at noon. Tickets are $100 for VIP/Preferred seating, $75 for general admission. Call 314-533-8000 or visitwww.stlamerican.com for more information or to purchase tickets.
