COVER STORY 48 | FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE Tina Marie Tentori Arizona Public Service The daughter of a pastor and a nurse, Tina Marie Tentori grew up with community in mind. “My dad would take me to hospitals when he visited sick people,” she said. “I learned what it takes to have a vibrant community, that all those people are your neighbors, and it’s our job to make sure we’re meeting each other’s needs.” Today, Tentori is director of community affairs and executive director of the Arizona Public Service Company Foundation, a role she calls her “dream job.” Headquartered in Arizona for over 100 years, APS is embedded — and vested — in our community. “When I chose APS, it was because APS was always giving to the community,” she said. “I knew they would allow me to do the things that are important to my heart. They’d let me serve on boards and do volunteerism. They walk their talk.” Tentori had worked at a nonprofit for 17 years before coming to APS and was able to apply that nonprofit thinking to the corporate world in order to work more collaboratively together. “That’s when it became a match made in heaven,” she said. “I am now in a position where I can help nonprofits be successful through funding, volunteerism and board service, knowing how all of those are so important to nonprofit success.” One thing Tentori wants people to know about her work is that it’s sincere. “I know some people can view the giving a company does in a skewed manner. But I get to oversee where the money goes, and I know it’s based on need,” she said. “It’s based on the issues Arizona is facing and how we can impact them.” Tentori’s commitment to community hasn’t changed much since the days she was tagging along with her dad during visiting hours. “A person like me fits perfectly at APS because they care about contributing to the prosperity of Arizona,” she said. “We really want to make a difference.” Lourdes Sierra PNC Financial Services Group Lourdes Sierra grew up in southeastern Arizona, close to the Mexican border. Raised in a small agricultural farming community, she spent her youth working in the fields to help her family. “It was through that hard work that I learned those valuable lessons that resonated with me throughout my life,” she said. One of them was aspiring to pursue higher education.

FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE | 49 “That was unheard of because my parents collectively only had three years of formal education,” Sierra said. “I always viewed education as an opportunity for me to change my trajectory.” She became heavily involved with Chicanos Por La Causa while she was an undergrad at Arizona State University. After she graduated, she stayed in the community and did education outreach campaigns for ASU to increase the number of underrepresented students who attended the university. “I’ve always had a passion for community, even though I was a business major,” Sierra said. “At the end of the day, we only become a stronger community and a stronger country when we’re all given opportunities to achieve.” As vice president of client & community relations at PNC Financial Services Group, she is helping to do just that. Early childhood education is a focus area for the organization that hits close to home for Sierra. “It’s an area that, frankly, is underfunded and underappreciated,” she said. “If we’re going to meet the educational outcomes that we want to see in communities, it’s got to start at the earliest level.” Education and community have been driving forces in Sierra’s life since she was a girl. Today, she tries to share the fruits of those labors with others — and lift communities in the process. “That’s really what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to move from transactional giving to transformational impact,” she said. Christine Bracamonte Wiggs Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona “I grew up around healers,” said Christine Bracamonte Wiggs. Her dad was a nurse practitioner; her mom was a midwife, so Wiggs assumed she wanted to become a doctor. Then, she learned about public health. “I was like, that’s my jam because instead of helping one person at a time, it is the opportunity to help multiple individuals and whole communities in order to have a bigger reach,” she said. Wiggs began her career doing applied research at the University of Arizona. “Applied research is really embedding yourself in the community and finding out what the assets of that community are and what opportunities the community sees to promote health,” she said. Today, as staff vice president for community & health advancement and president & board chair of Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Wiggs leads the social responsibility efforts of an organization with resources to make a substantial philanthropic investment in the