DARIEN, CT – The Tiny Miracles Foundation, a Darien-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping local families with premature babies, is excited to welcome Tina Tison as its new executive director.
Tison joins the Foundation from The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, where she was director of marketing since 2016.
At The Tiny Miracles Foundation, she will direct the organization’s efforts to help preemie parents in Fairfield and New Haven counties through critical times, as well as to enhance neonatal intensive care unit services and improve the short- and long-term outcomes for local preterm babies and their families. The Foundation operates in-NICU programs at the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH) Bridgeport and New Haven campuses, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Danbury Hospital, Norwalk Hospital and Stamford Hospital, as well as community-based services to families with preterm babies in the greater Connecticut region.
“We’re so pleased to welcome Tina, and know that her skills, experience, energy and vision will lift the organization to new levels,” said Ashley Dineen, president of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “Expanding our services to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital’s main New Haven campus in May – and now placing Tina as executive director – are two very important, positive milestones for the Foundation this year.”
At The Maritime Aquarium, Tison guided the marketing and communication efforts of Connecticut’s second-largest family attraction. Under her direction, the Aquarium achieved strong attendance over all five years, gained significant local and national press exposure, introduced a dynamic new website, and created a “virtual aquarium” that kept families engaged with the Aquarium while it was closed in 2020 due to COVID-19.
In addition, she served on: then Gov.-Elect Lamont’s Arts, Culture and Tourism Transition Policy Committee; the Speaker of the House of Representatives’ Blue Ribbon Panel on Tourism; and the executive committee of the Connecticut Tourism Coalition. She was appointed by State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff to serve on the CT Tourism Council and will remain on that board. For her work beyond her role at the Aquarium, she was named Connecticut Tourism’s 2019 volunteer of the year.
Tison also is on the Board of Visitors at the Welch College of Business and Technology at Sacred Heart University, where she is the chair of the Marketing Committee.
Beyond Connecticut, she served on the marketing committee of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), the national accrediting organization that sets the highest standards for animal care and guest safety.
Tison comes in to The Tiny Miracles Foundation just as the organization holds its annual fund-raising gala on Wed., Nov. 17 (World Prematurity Day), a virtual evening event titled “Miracle Moments.” Learn more about the gala, including registration, at www.ttmf.org.
“I am very excited to be joining The Tiny Miracles Foundation,” Tison said. “The Foundation has an incredibly important mission and has helped so many families since its creation. I am looking forward to working with our partners and volunteers to guide and support families impacted by prematurity.”
Prior to The Maritime Aquarium, Tison worked for the Norwalk-based ad agency Media Storm, where she served as a managing director for 10 years. She was the senior executive on top brands including FX, Food Network and ABC Family, and led integrated consumer marketing efforts that broke network and industry records for ratings.
Previously, Tison held VP titles at both Grey Worldwide and Young & Rubicam in New York. Her work was recognized with multiple Effie Awards for advertising effectiveness.
The graduate of Washington and Lee University lives in Fairfield with her husband, Joe, and their two children.
Learn more about The Tiny Miracles Foundation or become involved – including supporting the Nov. 17 fundraiser – by calling (203) 202-9714 or go online to www.ttmf.org.
