Rosa Tarbutton Sumter is a fifth-generation native of Washington County, Georgia. Born in Sandersville, Georgia, she graduated from Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, NC, and obtained her B.A. in History and Art History from Emory University. After a decade in marketing at Norfolk Southern Corporation, she retired to become a full-time mother and has remained active as a community volunteer and philanthropist.

Sumter currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Sandersville Railroad Company, her family's 130-year-old short-line railroad company. Additionally, she has been a member of the Emory University Board of Trustees since 2018. In that role, she serves on the Audit and Compliance Committee, the Real Estate, Building and Grounds Committee, and the Campus Life Committee. Before becoming a Trustee, Rosa was an Emory College Alumni Board member.

A member of the Cherokee Garden Club since 2011, she has served on the Executive Board since 2015 and has co-chaired the Conservation, Horticulture, and Programs Committees. For several years, she has also been selected as a delegate to the Garden Club of America's National Affairs and Legislation Conference in DC to increase congressional awareness of this organization's legislative priorities.

A resident of Atlanta, GA, Rosa is married to F. Neal Sumter III and has two children, Sadye and Fritz. She is a longtime member of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church.