Meet Our Board: Tara Dimick

Tara Dimick has served in several leadership roles at the Topeka Community Foundation, the Topeka Women’s Fund and throughout the broader community. She is the Co-Founder and Partner at Compass Marketing & Advertising Partners, and the Owner and Publisher of TK Business Magazine.

What is your “Why” for joining the board?
The Topeka Community Foundation gives people hope and a pathway to make truly transformational impact for the organizations and causes they love. As a donor and board member, I’ve seen how building and growing a fund creates opportunities for both immediate support and long-term systemic change, and that dual focus on today and tomorrow is what inspires me to serve.

What is the role of philanthropy in our community?
I was taught that any team or community is only as strong as its most vulnerable members, and philanthropy is how we lift one another up. It challenges us to look beyond our own progress, ask how we can be better together, and invest in people and neighborhoods that may be starting at a disadvantage. Through giving, serving, and working side by side, philanthropy helps create a stronger, more connected community for everyone.

Tell us a little more about yourself.
My connection to Topeka started early when I met Governor Joan Finney as a sixth grader after winning a reading contest, and that visit to the Capitol planted a seed that stayed with me. I later fell in love with Topeka again when I walked on to play softball at Washburn University, drawn by the people and opportunities the community offered. My family and I moved away for a few years, but the relationships we built here called us back, and Topeka has been home ever since.