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Newcomer's guide

Tamara Burks wants other minority professionals to feel more at home than she did when she arrived.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published April 29, 2005

TAMPA - People who never have met Tamara Burks write her asking for restaurant recommendations or advice on finding a plumber.

People count on her e-mails to find out about events for minority professionals in Tampa Bay.

"I am the newcomer's welcome guide to any minority who moves to the area," Burks said. "I don't go to half the stuff I send out, but I definitely keep people in the know."

Most evenings she curls up with a laptop in her bedroom at a yellow house in Riverview to write e-mails. Burks knows that it's hard to break into the community. She had that experience. She moved here from Pittsburgh five years ago. She and her husband, Mark Ellebie, landed in an apartment in Town 'N Country. They had no family in the area.

Burks needed to find a job and make friends, but she didn't know where to start.

On weekends, the couple set out to explore in his Ford Expedition. Burks discovered that the Tampa Bay area was primarily made up of three cities: Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. She found charming places to make her own - a Greek restaurant in Tarpon Springs, Ybor City's clubs and the shops at University Mall.

The work component of her life began to jell. She found a job recruiting employees for Remedy Intelligent Staffing in Brandon.

But Tampa still didn't feel like home. Burks missed her diverse circle of friends from Pittsburgh. She noticed that Tampa Bay lacked a focal point for minorities, such as a historically black college or cultural center.

So she decided to start a network for minority professionals.

"When you move someplace, you're kind of forced to step outside of yourself," Burks said. "You need to get out and intermingle instead of looking around your little group and complaining about how there's nothing here."

In 2001, Burks founded the Tampa Area Minority Professionals Association with two co-workers. They hoped to bring together the minority professionals scattered around Tampa Bay. The group schedules regular happy hours and mixers in downtown Tampa.

Through the group, Burks also started an e-mail list to let people know about events. It has grown to 200 names. Many more receive her forwarded notes.

Burks' e-mail list is one of several seeking to get information out to minorities in Tampa Bay. Her niche is reaching professionals ages 25 to 40.

"There is no one black community. We are kind of everywhere," said Carolyn Lighty, 46, a Westchase resident who runs a marketing and public relations firm and her own e-mail list, targeting more established minority professionals. "We need to connect. We need to work together to solve this problem."

Lighty frequently sends items of interest to Burks, who can reach people who aren't on Lighty's list. Their goal is the same: a thriving community for minorities.

Not long ago, Burks could not have imagined that people would look to her as a leader in the black community. She grew up in Boiling Springs, Pa., a rural town with one stoplight. There were 10 minorities in her high school of 2,000 students.

"I was less than a percentage point," Burks said.

She chose the University of Pittsburgh for college. It was close to her family, but far enough away that her parents could not drop in unannounced. In her freshman year, the Africana studies major met the man who would become her husband.

It was a case of opposites attracting. He loves going to movies; she doesn't. She's outgoing; he's an introvert. But both are close to family, cherish good friends and believe in the power of higher education.

After graduation, Burks stayed in Pittsburgh for three years. Moving to Tampa was her idea of an adventure, after her husband, a computer programmer, found a job here. She has outlasted the other founding members of the Tampa Area Minority Professionals Association, who have moved to other cities.

Burks plans to stay. Her mother now lives in Lithia. Last summer, she and her husband moved to a new house in Canterbury Lakes, a Riverview subdivision off U.S. 301.

When she moved in, Burks found that she already knew one of her neighbors. They had met at one of her events. Recently, a man who attended one of her mixers wrote to thank her for inspiring him to start his own business.

Burks says her work is not finished.

"I still don't think Tampa has everything I'm looking for," she said. "But the possibility is here, and I'm not giving up."

Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

AGE: 31

FAMILY: Husband, Mark Ellebie, 35

BRIGHT IDEA: Co-founded the Tampa Area Minority Professionals Association

SHOPPING HABITS: Burks prides herself on spicing up conservative work clothes with stylish pins or trendy tops. Her favorite shopping haunts are outlet malls and University Mall.

ON BEING A CIVIL WAR BUFF: "I look to the past to find out where we are now and where we can get to. That really starts the history of African-Americans in America."

ON WORKING 10 MINUTES FROM HOME: "I still can't make it to work on time. I don't understand it. I can't blame the traffic because my boss lives around the community too."

SIGN UP: Join Burks' e-mail list by writing to tamara.burks@tampapro.org

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 08:33:09]