The Team

Background

Hailing from Pennsylvania State University, Tara joined Development Counsellors International in 2007. With a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and minors in both Spanish and international studies, Tara brought her passions of writing, communicating, and studying different cultures to the team. While in college, she served as the assistant managing editor of her school’s student-run newspaper and worked on the yearbook as a copy editor. She has also been a committed fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes.

Tara's Passion for Places

Tara’s passion for places springs from her nomadic upbringing and relationships with people from other cultures. In fact, she has either lived or traveled to almost every pocket of the country thanks to her family’s love of travel.

Although she admits there are perks to being born and raised in one place, she believes she has gained unique perspectives and insight into people and the various places they call home through her travels. Additionally, Tara had the opportunity to live out her dream of studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, during a semester in college where her total immersion into the culture resulted in fluency in Spanish. As she has seen firsthand, she strongly feels that every community has something special to offer.

Notable Results

• For her North Dakota client, Tara aided in a placement in the Rocky Mountain News promoting North Dakota’s “Experience ND” event, a workforce attraction initiative. The piece not only portrayed the state in a positive light, but helped to boost attendance at the event.

• Tara arranged a visit to El Paso for The Economist on behalf of the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation. As a result, a story appeared focusing on El Paso and its sister city, Juárez, Mexico. The piece noted El Paso’s strong economy and growth in recent years, including Fort Bliss’ expansion and the downtown revitalization project.

• On behalf of the Huntsville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Tara secured a five-page feature in Global Traveler highlighting Huntsville, its rich history, and its attractions.

• Tara also assisted with the execution of a New York City media tour on behalf of the Alabama Development Office (ADO), where Alabama Governor Bob Riley had successful meetings with the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Television, Fox Business Network, Forbes, Fortune, and BusinessWeek.