Elizabethtown College graduates have a long tradition of service and meaningful work. Our alumni serve as leaders, volunteers and models for current Etown students. One such alumna who carries on Etown’s tradition of service is Tamara “Tami” Zavislan ’83.

Zavislan currently serves as Director of Development of the Homeless Persons Representation Project (HPRP) in Baltimore, but her undergraduate degree is in music therapy.

While at Etown, Zavislan had the opportunity to complete a six-month music therapy internship at a nonprofit in Cleveland, OH, which later offered her a job.

“That really started my whole career in nonprofits,” she said.

After receiving her B.A., Zavislan held a music therapy position at the American Music Therapy Association and worked up the ladder in fundraising and nonprofit management.

She eventually received a master’s degree in business management from Penn State. She found her background in music therapy especially useful during the completion of her master’s.

“The training and education I got in music therapy really set me up to do just about anything,” she said.

When facing difficult assignments in her business courses, Zavislan recalls thinking, “If I rely on what I know as a therapist, I can do this.”

From her master’s to her current work in nonprofits, Zavislan can connect her success to her music therapy background.

Zavislan currently works in fundraising at the HPRP, which she describes as a “nonprofit law firm” in which employees “use the law to fight homelessness.”

The HPRP, which employs over 400 volunteer attorneys, represents individuals currently experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness in cases involving housing, benefits and employment, among other issues. The organization also runs programs advocating for homeless veterans and homeless youth aged 13 to 25.

Zavislan’s position as Director of Development involves raising money to support the mission of the HPRP.

“Ten to 15 percent of fundraising is asking for money,” she said.

This duty encompasses individual appeals and writing letters and grants. However, much of her position involves education of the public via communications and media work and community events.

“Everything we learn…informs our advocacy to change legal structures that perpetuate homelessness,” she said. “[We aim to] work ourselves out of a job and end homelessness.”

One of the ways Etown uniquely prepared Zavislan for her career was through the message “Educate for Service,” a phrase that resonates with her today.

As an undergrad, “I was on a path to serve,” she said. “I was first and foremost service-oriented.”

Though she considered working in business, she eventually saw that she needed to serve—the idea of education for service was deeply ingrained for her.

“I need to do something to create change,” she said.

Many Etown students today feel the same calling to service that Zavislan felt during her time here.

Zavislan encourages Etown students who are interested in service work at nonprofits to pursue their interests, making sure “you’re 100 percent behind the mission of the organization” and ready to donate time, abilities and money – your “work, wisdom and wealth.”

She advises students to pursue interviews with representatives of organizations that interest them, talk to people involved in work they would like to do and always be aware of opportunities.

Zavislan believes that the value of her Etown education and the experience she gained was priceless.

“Thirty years later, I still draw on lessons and experiences [from Etown] to do my work, even not in music therapy,” she said.
She encourages students to stay open to unexpected opportunities, as she did along her non-linear career path.

“I never thought I’d be doing fundraising…I was very deeply committed to music therapy,” Zavislan said. “I was going to change the world – I’m still working to change the world. [Now] I am changing the world, but I’m doing it in a different way.”