Tamara and Johnny Roberts make sure their giving is both intentional and impactful for their family.
Tamara and Johnny Roberts believe generosity works best when it is intentional, organized, and shared across generations. As Chairman and former CEO of J.B. Hunt, Johnny is accustomed to structure and long-range planning. Tamara is the “CEO of the home,” and brings that same discipline to the family’s philanthropy. Early on, they decided that giving would be part of their family story. “We know from our faith that we don’t manufacture what’s happening; we participate in it,” he said. “And to whom much is given, much is expected.”
That conviction shaped a five-year family plan for philanthropy. Their children were invited in from the start. “Starting young teaches stewardship,” Tamara says. “It builds the habit of thinking about needs beyond your own.” Over time, their giving coalesced around areas that resonate deeply with the family: health care, education, food security, just to name a few. The result is a steady, efficient and values-driven pattern of support that they hope their children and grandchildren will continue.
Impact matters as much as intention. Some of the family’s most meaningful moments have come from smaller, local projects. Johnny points to a pre-K breakfast program in Fayetteville. “It was not our largest grant, but it was one of the most impactful,” he says.
“I was a teacher,” Tamara adds. “Children can’t learn if they’re hungry. Seeing that program, and knowing those school meals might be the only ones some children get that day, stays with you.” For Tamara, the local cancer support home holds special significance. After her own preventive surgery, she helped expand services that restore dignity for patients. “To see women leave with a quality wig, a soft robe and a little more confidence was unforgettable,” she says. “Small comforts can change how someone faces a hard day.”
Early in their marriage, as their philanthropy grew, so did the complexity. Gifts of appreciated stock, multi-year pledges, and dozens of commitments and requests quickly became difficult to manage while Johnny was leading a major company. The couple credits Arkansas Community Foundation staff with creating order out of the chaos. “It has been one of the best decisions we have made,” Tamara says. “The Foundation team keeps us organized, makes the transactions seamless, and gives us confidence that nonprofits can count on timely support.” Johnny adds that the ability to make a single transfer into their fund, then let Foundation staff handle timing, paperwork, and reporting, has been “transformational.”
Beyond logistics, the Foundation staff provides candid guidance to align each gift with the family’s goals. “If I bring an idea forward, they’ll tell me if it makes sense,” Tamara says. “It’s like having a philanthropy concierge. We don’t worry about the mechanics; we can focus on impact.”
At the heart of their giving is their faith. “We have been blessed far beyond what we ever imagined,” Johnny says. Asked how they hope to be remembered, both keep it simple: faithful, devoted to family, and known as people who tried to help our state be better.
For Arkansas, that faithfulness looks like a brighter future: stronger hospitals and patient recovery centers, students ready to learn, families with food on the table, and so many other small and large efforts to help. For the Roberts family, it looks like the next generation learning to plant seeds whose shade they may never sit under, but that will shelter many others.