Martha “Tish” Rumsey is an Emeritus board member and became friends with Ashton and her family in 2014, through the animal adoption program they started. Originally from Savannah, Tish went to the Athens area for college; finishing her undergraduate degree in sociology, raising two sons, and later a graduate degree in social work.
While working with troubled teenagers in therapeutic roles, she became involved in fostering mostly teenagers through the Department of Family and Children Services. She did this for around 18 years. Five years ago she joined the Oconee County Department of Family and Children Services Board.
She sees the work that the Ashton Hope Keegan Foundation is doing as an extension of her lifelong interests in helping others who find themselves in difficult situations better themselves through education.