Hi, I’m Tara.
I received my PhD from UC Berkeley, and I am currently working as a policy consultant and independent researcher. My areas of focus are U.S. foreign policy, tech policy, human rights and democracy, and gender. Most recently, my consulting work has focused on gender and authoritarianism and AI and education.
I am also the Bay Area Regional Lead for Foreign Policy for America’s NextGen program, and in 2025, was selected as the NextGen Member of the Year. I have been a member of NextGen since 2022.
In 2021, I was selected as part of the inaugural class of the Aspen Strategy Group’s Rising Leaders Program. In the 2022-2023 academic year, I was a United States Institute of Peace Minerva Peace and Security scholar.
At Berkeley, my research focused on the causes and consequences of political violence, with a specific focus on understanding why insurgents use tactics that target women, and how the presence and behavior of counterinsurgents contributes to changes in broader conflict dynamics.
I completed my Master’s degree at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, where I served as the Managing Editor for Interviews for the Yale Journal of International Affairs, and co-founder of Jackson Women. I received my undergraduate degree with Honors from the University of Chicago.
Prior to my graduate studies, I worked in DC for several years, including at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where I served as the lead researcher on a book on U.S. foreign policy and national security, and in research roles in other think tanks. I also have a myriad of government experience, both in the federal government and on the Hill.