Mumma attended Western Michigan University and Layton School of Art & Design in Milwaukee and graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 1985 he went to work for The Upjohn Company, a worldwide pharmaceutical company headquartered in Kalamazoo. Before leaving Upjohn in 1993, Mumma traveled the world, shooting marketing, promotional and annual report photos. As a freelancer, Mumma focused primarily on corporate and graphic design photography, with clients including Georgia Pacific, Stryker Corporation, Eaton, Pfizer and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Simultaneously he was devoting energy to the not-for-profit world, which is where his interest in Hispaniola began. He worked with and served on boards of a number of NGOs, ultimately becoming U.S. Director of International Child Care, a position he held from 2005 until 2017.