Tonja Perkins, originally from Cincinnati Ohio, is the Chief Operating Officer. Tonja relocated to Chattanooga in early 2000 to be closer to family who migrated here years prior. She was the first of her family to attend college, and obtained her Associates Degree from Chattanooga State, graduating with a 3.9 G.P.A. She then went on to the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga where she graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Economics. After spending some years in the financial lending sector, in 2012 she got her first introduction into healthcare working for Erlanger Hospital as the Hospitalist Program Manager, where she managed the daily operations of a team of 22 physicians, 2 Nurse Practitioner and a small team of support staff. It was in this first role that she fell in love with the challenges and complexity of the healthcare sector. Years later, Tonja moved on to work for the radiology group (T.I.I.A.) at Erlanger as the Director of Operations. She successfully helped them launch from a 4-provider group to a 22-provider group and built a team of organized efficient processes, so the group could successfully handle the volume of studies coming from the entire Erlanger Health System. After her career at Erlanger, Tonja moved to independent consulting and spent several years working in the healthcare field assisting small to mid-size organizations with a wide variety of functions from operations to human resources to financial oversight and team building. In 2021, she came to Cempa as a consultant to help implement changes in the clinic. Tonja was immediately drawn to the organization, and its causes and felt her skills could be better utilized here in the non-profit sector. She finds great satisfaction in using her experience and skills for a cause much bigger than her, so when the organization’s C.F.O. decided to retire in December 2021, Tonja stepped into this role and has never looked back. In August 2022, she expanded her role from C.F.O. to now overseeing the finance department and inward-facing operations as Chief Operating Officer. After a decade in the for-profit sector, as the newest executive on the team, she is thrilled and honored to work with Cempa and hopes to finish her career here building a team that remains focused on how to better serve the communities of Chattanooga. When she is not working, Tonja loves to kayak and run around a tennis court, but her biggest love is her four-legged baby, Miles.
