A Breath of Fresh Air
If Tamara Clay ever needs a dose of inspiration, she doesn’t have to go far. The tenacity, grit, and spirit of the patients and caregivers she meets through work lift her up, offering countless lessons in perseverance.
Clay is the CEO of the Atlanta Neuroscience Institute (ANI), a one-stop shop for people living with chronic neurological diseases, specifically multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and epilepsy. The Buckhead-based nonprofit offers top-notch comprehensive medical care, provided by a team of doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and more. But it also shares resources for daily living, conducts research, offers imaging services, leads advocacy efforts, and focuses on a whole-person approach.
“We’re a small package with a big punch,” Clay likes to say of the team, which includes more than 50 employees. “For patients, being able to come to one place for multiple services is a key to their success. It’s something we pride ourselves on doing.”
Clay joined the institute more than six years ago, having had extensive experience as a healthcare administrator. This wasn’t the career path she imagined for herself, however, when she was a quiet little girl in Memphis and set her sights on becoming a psychologist. An older brother’s behavioral issues prompted her family to enter counseling. During a family session, “I spoke up, and I felt like it was the first time anyone heard me,” she remembers. “I thought, this is what I want to do when I grow up.”
Armed with a master’s in psychology, she dove into crisis and traumatic counseling. She quickly learned she couldn’t set boundaries, and the emotional toll was more than she could take. So, she moved into case management in social services, where people saw leadership skills in her that she didn’t see herself. She went on to lead an outpatient clinic, served as an administrator for large medical practices, and earned an MBA.
At the helm of ANI, which serves 7,000 patients a year, she is tasked with making sure operations run smoothly so she and everyone else can do the good work they’re meant to do. That means she needs reliable partners, including a trustworthy bank, to make sure they’re covered.
ANI had gone from a big bank, “where you’re just a number with fees associated with it,” she said, to a smaller bank they really liked — until a merger introduced glitches that shook Clay’s confidence.
She knew Bruce Dearing, now a senior vice president at Tandem Bank, from a previous banking relationship. He reached out in early 2025, after landing at Tandem, right when she needed a change.
“We took a leap and decided to move our finances over to Tandem, and the experience has been a breath of fresh air,” she said. “They’re very much people focused and business focused, which is what we needed. And it’s one less headache I need to worry about, because who wants to worry about money?”
With Tandem in ANI’s corner, she doesn’t have to worry. Instead, she and her team can focus on what drives them most: providing quality care to the patients and families they’re meant to serve, and who inspire them every day.