Tara Sonenshine is an adviser on media and international policy and Executive Vice President of USIP. She is a strategic communications adviser to many international organizations including USIP, where she is focusing on projects related to programmatic outreach and growth. Sonenshine is working on the public education dimensions of the new headquarters project for USIP. She has served as a strategic communications adviser to the International Crisis Group, Internews Networks, CARE International, the American Academy of Diplomacy and Women of Washington.

Sonenshine has served in various White House capacities, including transition director for the National Security Council (NSC). In that position, she was responsible for coordinating an interagency process to review foreign policy goals and priorities for the Clinton administration’s second term. Before that, she served as special assistant to President Clinton and deputy director of communications for the NSC (1994–1995).

In 1998, Sonenshine was at the Brookings Institution studying foreign policy and communications. Her career began in broadcast journalism in 1982 at ABC News in New York, where she served as assistant to David Burke, the vice president of news. Sonenshine went on to become editorial producer of ABC News’ Nightline, where she worked for more than a decade. She was also an off-air reporter at the Pentagon for ABC’s World News Tonight. During her tenure at ABC News, Sonenshine earned ten News Emmy Awards for coverage of China, Iran, the Philippines, and South Africa. She also won the Columbia-DuPont Award for coverage of the Los Angeles riots. A former contributing editor for Newsweek, Sonenshine is the author of numerous articles on foreign affairs published in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other newspapers.

Show full bio

Hide full bio