Tama Spoerri

Board Member

Tama Spoerri is from Southampton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, and was raised as an avid sports fan. Coming from a small, close-knit family where cousins were like siblings, respect, compassion, and giving back to the community were part of her family’s moral values. Tama graduated from William Tennent High School where she played field hockey, was manager of the swim team, and a member of the National Honor Society, as well as being active in her church youth group. Tama attended Syracuse University in New York, graduating in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree with a dual major of Personnel and Industrial Relations and Marketing. Tama holds both her SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications.

After graduating from Syracuse, Tama moved to New York City to join Lord & Taylor’s executive training program, becoming an assistant buyer in costume and fashion jewelry. With a goal of getting into human resources, Tama joined Bergdorf Goodman as an assistant recruitment manager and started her career in HR in 1986. New York was a great learning opportunity that allowed her to then move to a bigger role as Manager of Employment and Staffing at Stop & Shop Supermarkets in Quincy, Massachusetts.  It was early on that she had valuable mentors who demonstrated and practice compassion in HR.

Following her husband, Tama moved to Maine in 1995 and joined Fleet Bank of Maine.  As a senior vice president, HR line of business director, Tama supported the Commercial banking group.  While in this role, Tama worked on many of the bank mergers and acquisitions while traveling extensively in support of the Commercial team. In 2002, Tama was approached by Bowdoin College for the director of human resources position.  Eighteen years later, and now the vice president for human resources, Tama never has a dull day. Working in human resources provides a daily reminder that “Human” should be the foundation of all we do and how we approach each situation. It requires empathy, understanding, and fairness. It also reminds us that we need to demonstrate these traits in all aspects of our lives.

Tama has continued to give back to her community in volunteer roles, something that she and her husband have instilled in their 2 children (Brad, age 22, and Emma, age 19) as well. Tama served on the Board of the Cancer Community Center, a position she took to honor the memory of her dad who she lost to cancer in 1995. She has also served on the Fidelity Investments Tax-Exempt Market Advisory Board. Tama loves helping students and often volunteers at Bowdoin for the Career Exploration and Development Office to present practical career-related seminars. Volunteering for her children’s activities has truly been her passion. Being a positive role model and giving back in time and talent is a core value that is even more important today. Tama is delighted to be joining the Board of CommonBondz as another opportunity to learn, educate, and share her talents to lead for meaningful change for African Americans in all our communities.