Forty Under 40: Tina Waggener

As executive director of The Cancer Challenge in Northwest Arkansas, Tina Waggener said she sees the best side of people.

“There couldn’t be more satisfaction than working with people who are so willing to give of their time and talent,” Waggener said. “It’s so heart warming to work with people like that.”

The nonprofit organization hosted more than 385 volunteers at every event this year, she said. This year, The Cancer Challenge raised $658,000 that will fulfill local grant requests.

Waggener took the executive director position in 1997, and she is proud that the organization’s expenses consistently total less than 10 percent of the money raised.

About 75 percent of her efforts funnel into The Cancer Challenge, but Waggener also works as a program officer for the Community Care Foundation, which distributes grants from its $150 million endowment.

Before joining The Cancer Challenge, Waggener worked for a year as the director of development for Bates Medical Center.

Originally from Quincy, Ill., Waggener received a bachelor’s degree in 1985 from Missouri Southern State College in Joplin. She moved to Northwest Arkansas in 1987.