Linda Tarr-Whelan

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.