I think what makes FOW great is that even as it changes and new people come in, we're just centered so strongly on a love for the park.”

-- Ruffian Tittmann

In 2006, Ruffian Tittmann was working as the director of membership and annual giving at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) when she went on a "longer than expected" bike ride up Kelly Drive. She came across the Wissahickon Valley Park.

Thus, when she saw a job listing for a development director at Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) that same year, Tittmann had to apply. Her love for the park she happened upon in 2006 would go on to define the next 19 years of her life. "I don't want to get choked up, but I could go on," said Tittmann in an interview with the Local. "It's been almost 20 years…it's been a dream job for sure."

Now, after working at FOW for almost two decades (the last five of which were as executive director), Tittmann is ready for a new adventure. 

On March 28, Tittmann will leave FOW to begin a new role as the first executive director of the Allentown Parknership, a not-for-profit organization designed to enhance Allentown's 44 parks and playgrounds and help develop recreation programs for the community. And, she’s not pausing to take a breath. She's starting the new job the following Monday. 

Having spent her early childhood in University City while her parents were graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania, Tittmann’s roots belong in Philadelphia. She later moved to Granby, Connecticut and eventually attended Drew University in New Jersey.

Before joining the team at FOW, Tittmann worked exclusively at museums in the nonprofit sector – the Mystic Seaport Museum and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Connecticut, and then PAFA starting in 2003. The experience in development work would turn out to be valuable at FOW - where she helped raise nearly $5 million last year alone.

Tittmann's tenure at FOW is full of accomplishments, but her favorite one happened just a few months ago. The completion of the $3.5 million Valley Green Run Restoration and the Lida Way pedestrian bridge in December 2024 was a proud moment for Tittmann. Nearly a decade in the making, the landmark added safety and accessibility to the park.

The 100th anniversary of FOW – a celebration lasting throughout 2024 – is another fond memory, she says. At the 100th anniversary gala in November, FOW recognized several members of the organization who Tittmann says were "key to my personal and professional success," including Christine Bamberger, Linda and David Glickstein, and Tarsha and Keisha Scovens.

Tittmann also recalled the staff, board members and volunteers she's worked with along the way, the events FOW has hosted, and the fun times in the office.

Since Tittmann took the helm as executive director of FOW in January 2020, the organization has undergone considerable change. The pandemic caused Tittmann to adapt – quickly. She discarded the ambitious projects she had mapped out for the year and instead worked on a smooth transition to virtual work for the administrative arm of FOW. Tittmann says this period was difficult as a new leader, but she thinks the organization ultimately benefitted from the challenge.

"I certainly learned a lot," Tittmann says about the pandemic. "The board, myself, and the senior leadership at FOW navigated through it, and in a lot of ways we came out a stronger organization."

FOW also evolved as the organization completed new projects, increased its corps of volunteers and adapted to a younger and more diverse board. Yet, despite the changes, Tittmann says the focus of the organization remained the same.

"I think what makes FOW great is that even as it changes and new people come in, we're just centered so strongly on a love for the park and a real commitment to our founding mission," Tittmann said.

Deciding to leave FOW was a hard decision for Tittmann. However, the timing for a new opportunity proved to be right.

"It was a combination of wrapping up the 100th anniversary year, completing the bridge project, having a little bit of a pause, and having an opportunity present itself to me to be able to work and build another organization," Tittmann says. "It's just a new challenge at a time in my life where it works for me and my family to take on a new challenge."

Tittmann's departure will not leave FOW empty-handed. The current development director, Sarah Marley, will step up as the organization's interim executive director. Marley has been with FOW since 2010 and assumed her current role in 2018. Tittmann feels confident in Marley, whom she says "knows the organization inside and out."

Looking back on her time at the organization, Tittmann is filled with gratitude for FOW being a constant in so many seasons of her life.

"It feels great to go with such a warm send-off with the best staff I've ever worked with and a great board, and to have had some really amazing accomplishments in the recent past," Tittmann says. "It's been a great job for balancing work, life, and family. I got married and had my kid and 100 other milestones in almost 20 years."