Mary Saravia Busby
Director of Development
As Director of Development, Mary manages the Foundation team and directs the Foundation’s fundraising efforts to secure corporate and individual major, annual and planned gifts as well as grants and sponsorships. She also oversees Tanner Foundation's black tie event, The Magnolia Ball, which has become a venerated local tradition welcoming 600+ guests for a evening of dining, dancing and auction in support of a key hospital project.
Mary advances Tanner Foundation's mission via web, print, social media and video communications. She builds community relationships, crafts proposals, structures programs and supports donors in developing multi-year fund and endowment agreements to champion the patients and services of Tanner Health System.
She leverages more than a decade of experience in strategic sales and communication from her early career in the cable industry, serving as Director of Sales Strategy for The Weather Channel and representing cable product marketing for Cox Communications. She has developed and directed integrated marketing campaigns with teams from Disney and ESPN, AMC Networks, NBC Universal and other cable industry leaders.
Mary is a graduate of Binghamton University, a top-rated public research center in New York, and was inducted into Mensa in 2002. She has earned certificates in Major Gifts (2016) and Annual Giving (2012) from the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy Madison Institute and graduated the Tanner Leadership Institute Director's Cohort (2017.)