Tammy Koçkaya, CMP, CMM (pronounced kōch-KAI-ya), serves as Senior Director, Product Innovation with PCMA, the world’s largest community for Business Events Strategists, providing senior-level education, networking, and market intelligence for the global business events industry. In this role, Tammy is responsible for developing, innovating, and leading the various educational product offerings for the organization to benefit members and the events industry as a whole.
Tammy has been a leader in the events industry for 20+ years, from her start as a meeting planner with CEB (now Gartner) to leading a 20+ team of meeting and event professionals with KPMG LLP. Most recently, she served as the Chief Strategy & Growth Officer for the Event Leadership Institute prior to its acquisition by PCMA. Before entering the events industry, Tammy worked in higher education as student affairs professional with the University of Maryland College Park. As a result of her varied experiences, Tammy has a depth of skill in driving complex projects and strategic initiatives, building collaborative relationships with stakeholders and vendors, and developing leaders and talent.
Tammy is passionate about education and professional development, growing and engaging talent, developing high-performing teams, and creating strategies to achieve organizational success. She frequently speaks on change management and leadership development, approaches to be more influential, and coaching new talent managers to be effective. She has facilitated numerous webinars, panel discussions, workshops, podcasts, and training programs. In addition, Tammy serves as the instructor for ELI’s only advanced course (Advanced Event Design & Strategy) and is engaged in developing new talent development-focused products for event teams.
Staying active in the industry has always been an essential priority for Tammy. As a global volunteer for MPI (Meeting Professionals International), she has been a facilitator for Chapter Leaders Forum and Chapter Business Summit, served on various advisory boards and MPI’s Foundation, and served on the Global Governance & Board Development Committee for three years. In addition, she served eight years on the board of directors for the MPI Potomac Chapter culminating in serving as the chapter’s president in 2016-2017. Tammy holds a master’s degree from Western Illinois University and a bachelor’s degree from Albion College in Michigan. She has been a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) through the Events Industry Council since 2011 and earned the Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM) through MPI in 2013.
Outside the office, Tammy is an avid home chef, enjoys hiking, and is a budding gardener. Her greatest joy comes from being a mom to her daughter, Olivia, and she can often be found in the stands of field hockey games or tennis matches. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, she now lives in Fairfax, Virginia, but calls a little remote town in Northern Michigan home (ask her about Petoskey hunting and sand dune climbing).