Tammy Dickerson, CMP, president and chief events officer, founded tbg Events in 2000 helping some of the top fortune 500 companies through event production. Today, the event production agency has garnered its respect by producing events for companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Disney, and American Airlines in addition to working with sports organizations for philanthropic efforts.
The events company most recently held The Milken Institute’s 29th Annual Global Conference that took place in Beverly Hills, Calif. May 3-May 6. Dickerson spoke exclusively to OurWeekly to reflect on her journey.
Q: You just wrapped the Milken Institute’s 29th Annual Global Conference, shortly after celebrating 25 years of tbg Events. How does this moment feel for you?
Tammy: It’s an incredibly humbling experience, in all honesty. The Milken Institute has been one of our clients since the very beginning of tbg Events. We’ve been a production partner with them for 23 of the 25 years we’ve been in business.
Our team has grown from a mighty four to well over 100 associates working on this project. Every time we walk into their offices or into the Beverly Hilton, we don’t take the opportunity for granted. We are truly blessed to be there and to be standing as a women- and minority-owned agency alongside them.
Q: As a Black woman–owned firm, what do you see as the most significant impact tbg Events has had on the Black community in event production?
Tammy: Number one, it’s the sheer opportunity to employ as many African Americans, women, and minorities in this space as possible. We hired about 135 team members for this project, and more than 50 percent of them were African American. To be able to employ people for this incredible project feels good, especially in the current economy that we are in today.
It also means we’re represented in rooms that very few of us are in. That visibility opens doors. It shows other minority businesses—whether they’re startups or longstanding firms—that you can reach these types of milestones and work alongside strong, global clients that believe in you.
Q: Can you share a concrete example where your values-driven approach empowered Black-owned businesses and had a clear economic impact?
Tammy: We were hired by Sigma Gamma Rho to produce their national convention in Tampa, Florida, with over 4,000 attendees. We were very intentional about finding a large minority-owned audio-visual and production partner.
We vetted and interviewed more than 10 companies and ended up with two finalists—both African American–owned. One of them landed a contract worth over half a million dollars for AV and technical production.
That opportunity shows that minority firms can deliver the same high-level results when given the opportunity. For many of our programs, we start with minority firms first when sourcing vendors and partners. It’s about equity, but it’s also about quality and deliverables. If the best vendor happens to be African American, that makes it even better.
Q: Los Angeles is gearing up for major global events—the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. What are you most looking forward to, and what future partnerships excite you?
Tammy: We want to build on the relationships we’ve developed here in Los Angeles—with corporate partners, large nonprofits, institutions, and the City of Los Angeles. We’re very proud that we produced the Olympic and Paralympic flag opening ceremony at City Hall with Mayor Bass when the flag came to Los Angeles.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to partner with majority agencies on operations, logistics, and brand activations for those major global events. We’re networking and making sure people know we’re here, we’re strong, and we’re ready to support these large-scale events that are coming.
Q: When you look 5, 10, even 20 years ahead, what’s next for tbg Events—and what changes would you like to see in the industry?
Tammy: We’re looking at curating and producing our own events under the tbg Events banner. We’ve launched a Women’s Wellness and Renewal Retreat for hard-working entrepreneurs and ‘executive mompreneurs’ who are juggling a lot. This will be our third year.
We also want to fully leverage what’s coming to Los Angeles. We want to be considered among the top vendors for those global events mentioned earlier.
We see bigger things on the horizon. We’re growing our staff and team members and specializing in events with over 1,000 attendees. We want to continue stretching those barriers and proving that firms like ours not only belong in this space—we can lead it.
For more information, visit www.tbg-events.com and follow @tbg_events on Instagram.