Linda Tarr-Whelan
Linda Tarr-Whelan
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Linda Tarr-Whelan, Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow, and author of Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World. Ms. Tarr-Whelan has had a varied career as a nurse, management consultant, advocate, non-profit leader, communicator, union negotiator and government official at the state, national and international levels.

She served as Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in the Clinton Administration and as Deputy Assistant for Women’s Concerns to President Jimmy Carter in the Carter White House. She was the first nurse appointed to these positions. Ladies Home Journal named her as one of the 50 most powerful women in Washington. She also serves as Chair of the National Advisory Council for the Pax World Resources Women’s Equity Fund.

Her policy experience has also included a sub-cabinet appointment in New York State government, director of policy for a large public sector union and chief lobbyist for the National Education Association. As CEO of the Center for Policy Alternatives, the leading progressive policy and leadership center for the 50 states, she focused on women and the economy. She and her husband created a successful international management consultancy that worked with leaders of foundations, non-profits and international organizations.

Linda began her career as a nurse and holds a BSN from Johns Hopkins, an MS from the University of Maryland, and honorary PhDs from Chatham University in Pittsburgh and Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Linda and Keith, who have two adult children and three grandchildren, live on St. Helena Island, SC.

Blog Entries by Linda Tarr-Whelan

TEDWomen: Proving That Gender Does Not Determine Great Ideas

Posted December 10, 2010 | 12:11:27 (EST)

Great, diverse women with courage, impressive ideas, grace, beauty, global reach, compassion, gentle but powerfully persuasive voices, bold innovation in the toughest of times, and inspiring, moving stories -- this was the force of the TEDWomen conference in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7 and 8, which featured more than 70...

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Election Outcomes and Women's Leadership

Posted November 12, 2010 | 17:55:10 (EST)

Millions of Americans went to the polls this week in an election cycle that has been called the "year of the woman." In California two former heads of Fortune 500 companies, Carly Fiorina (Hewlett Packard) and Meg Whitman (eBay), ran competitive races for Senate and Governor, respectively. All told, 298...

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Women Call for Obama to Act on Women's Leadership

Posted August 27, 2010 | 15:45:10 (EST)

Yesterday marked Women's Equality Day, the commemoration of women's suffrage achieved in 1920. What better time to take stock of what's left to do?

We need a national conversation led by the White House to explore how women decision-makers can help achieve better economic performance and a more prosperous future...

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As Economy Trails, Women Can Propel U.S. to the Leaderboard

Posted February 22, 2010 | 17:04:22 (EST)

The Olympics aren't the only races for the gold. There is an important global competitiveness challenge one you probably haven't heard about and the U.S. hasn't even entered the starting blocks. The race is to create balanced leadership for better outcomes. Across Europe, led by far-sighted women, countries and companies...

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U.N. Women's Treaty Can Not Wait for U.S. Senate

Posted December 18, 2009 | 14:49:11 (EST)

Today is an important 30th anniversary for women's rights.

On Dec. 18, 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW, making it a watershed day for women around the globe.

This international agreement was Eleanor...

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Health Care And Healthy Moms

Posted November 24, 2009 | 19:35:00 (EST)

Health care for women is in the news these days. But what does it all mean? Having just researched for my new book what different decisions emerge when 30% women are at the table, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Congress were made up of...

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The Missing Piece in a Woman's Nation

Posted October 23, 2009 | 17:10:48 (EST)

The last few weeks have seen very important attention to the strength that women add as "holding up half the sky" and being half the workforce in our own country. The mainstream and prominent voices of a well-known Pulitzer-prize winning couple with a berth at the New...

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