Tara Gamboa-Eastman, MPP
Senior Advocate at Steinberg Institute- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Kendall Bentsen
I had the pleasure of supervising Tara for the entire 2014-2015 school year. During that time, Tara consistently excelled at not only the core elements of her job (like holding meetings on her campus and signing up supporters), but also stood out as an exceptionally strong communicator and sincerely dedicated Ready For Hillary teammate. Her commitment lead her to create the Students for Hillary at Berkeley which, out of all of the hundreds of Students for Hillary clubs across the country, was certainly the biggest in the Western Region, if not in all of the nation. She is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Elizabeth Finnigan Laferriere
I had the privilege of serving as Tara's supervisor during her extended fellowship with the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, a unique local agency advancing women’s rights through collaborative programming, policy advocacy and grant support. Every so often, an individual comes along and raises the standard for what to expect of top young talent. Tara was one such natural leader: capable of effortlessly adapting to the needs of our fast-paced team while taking on progressively more responsibility. She has the poise, maturity and confidence of an individual with 10+ more years of experience. By the time she completed her term, she was already managing interns and expertly juggling two distinct programs in the department. Our workplace equity program, then in its infancy, required one new team member to step in immediately and boost our brand recognition, communicate our message with stakeholders and offer a high level of flexibility and independence. All at the busiest point in our first major program launch. Tara brought that needed level of professionalism and adaptability. She contributed real substance to strategy sessions and brought creativity and gumption to work everyday. She is the type of individual who never requires instructions twice. During a particularly challenging period for the program, Tara continued to prioritize the quality and future of our product. She emerged as poised and determined as ever - ready to meet and overcome any obstacle. Tara also exhibited a keen talent for strategic messaging and social media. Shortly after taking on the workplace equity program’s accounts, she nearly doubled its Twitter followers while also initiating a new online interactive experience for guests at our events. As her communications skills grew apparent, Tara was invited to coordinate the department's regularly scheduled external communication. While Tara is skilled in many aspects of the job, it was in the one-on-one interactions that she truly shined. She was just as comfortable speaking with legal experts at human rights events as she was engaging top company executives on gender equality practices. She spoke regularly with the Mayor’s staff and helped coordinate our program’s nonprofit allies and corporate stakeholders. Her diversity of experiences and background in volunteering and campaigning certainly contribute to her approachability, ease of communication and commitment to supporting disadvantaged communities. After leaving my team, Tara took on new projects, including the Cities for CEDAW campaign, and singlehandedly ensured their success. I am no longer simply impressed by this woman’s commitment to results. I’ve come to expect it. She is one of the best fellows and co-workers I have ever had.
Kendall Bentsen
I had the pleasure of supervising Tara for the entire 2014-2015 school year. During that time, Tara consistently excelled at not only the core elements of her job (like holding meetings on her campus and signing up supporters), but also stood out as an exceptionally strong communicator and sincerely dedicated Ready For Hillary teammate. Her commitment lead her to create the Students for Hillary at Berkeley which, out of all of the hundreds of Students for Hillary clubs across the country, was certainly the biggest in the Western Region, if not in all of the nation. She is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Elizabeth Finnigan Laferriere
I had the privilege of serving as Tara's supervisor during her extended fellowship with the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, a unique local agency advancing women’s rights through collaborative programming, policy advocacy and grant support. Every so often, an individual comes along and raises the standard for what to expect of top young talent. Tara was one such natural leader: capable of effortlessly adapting to the needs of our fast-paced team while taking on progressively more responsibility. She has the poise, maturity and confidence of an individual with 10+ more years of experience. By the time she completed her term, she was already managing interns and expertly juggling two distinct programs in the department. Our workplace equity program, then in its infancy, required one new team member to step in immediately and boost our brand recognition, communicate our message with stakeholders and offer a high level of flexibility and independence. All at the busiest point in our first major program launch. Tara brought that needed level of professionalism and adaptability. She contributed real substance to strategy sessions and brought creativity and gumption to work everyday. She is the type of individual who never requires instructions twice. During a particularly challenging period for the program, Tara continued to prioritize the quality and future of our product. She emerged as poised and determined as ever - ready to meet and overcome any obstacle. Tara also exhibited a keen talent for strategic messaging and social media. Shortly after taking on the workplace equity program’s accounts, she nearly doubled its Twitter followers while also initiating a new online interactive experience for guests at our events. As her communications skills grew apparent, Tara was invited to coordinate the department's regularly scheduled external communication. While Tara is skilled in many aspects of the job, it was in the one-on-one interactions that she truly shined. She was just as comfortable speaking with legal experts at human rights events as she was engaging top company executives on gender equality practices. She spoke regularly with the Mayor’s staff and helped coordinate our program’s nonprofit allies and corporate stakeholders. Her diversity of experiences and background in volunteering and campaigning certainly contribute to her approachability, ease of communication and commitment to supporting disadvantaged communities. After leaving my team, Tara took on new projects, including the Cities for CEDAW campaign, and singlehandedly ensured their success. I am no longer simply impressed by this woman’s commitment to results. I’ve come to expect it. She is one of the best fellows and co-workers I have ever had.
Kendall Bentsen
I had the pleasure of supervising Tara for the entire 2014-2015 school year. During that time, Tara consistently excelled at not only the core elements of her job (like holding meetings on her campus and signing up supporters), but also stood out as an exceptionally strong communicator and sincerely dedicated Ready For Hillary teammate. Her commitment lead her to create the Students for Hillary at Berkeley which, out of all of the hundreds of Students for Hillary clubs across the country, was certainly the biggest in the Western Region, if not in all of the nation. She is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Elizabeth Finnigan Laferriere
I had the privilege of serving as Tara's supervisor during her extended fellowship with the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, a unique local agency advancing women’s rights through collaborative programming, policy advocacy and grant support. Every so often, an individual comes along and raises the standard for what to expect of top young talent. Tara was one such natural leader: capable of effortlessly adapting to the needs of our fast-paced team while taking on progressively more responsibility. She has the poise, maturity and confidence of an individual with 10+ more years of experience. By the time she completed her term, she was already managing interns and expertly juggling two distinct programs in the department. Our workplace equity program, then in its infancy, required one new team member to step in immediately and boost our brand recognition, communicate our message with stakeholders and offer a high level of flexibility and independence. All at the busiest point in our first major program launch. Tara brought that needed level of professionalism and adaptability. She contributed real substance to strategy sessions and brought creativity and gumption to work everyday. She is the type of individual who never requires instructions twice. During a particularly challenging period for the program, Tara continued to prioritize the quality and future of our product. She emerged as poised and determined as ever - ready to meet and overcome any obstacle. Tara also exhibited a keen talent for strategic messaging and social media. Shortly after taking on the workplace equity program’s accounts, she nearly doubled its Twitter followers while also initiating a new online interactive experience for guests at our events. As her communications skills grew apparent, Tara was invited to coordinate the department's regularly scheduled external communication. While Tara is skilled in many aspects of the job, it was in the one-on-one interactions that she truly shined. She was just as comfortable speaking with legal experts at human rights events as she was engaging top company executives on gender equality practices. She spoke regularly with the Mayor’s staff and helped coordinate our program’s nonprofit allies and corporate stakeholders. Her diversity of experiences and background in volunteering and campaigning certainly contribute to her approachability, ease of communication and commitment to supporting disadvantaged communities. After leaving my team, Tara took on new projects, including the Cities for CEDAW campaign, and singlehandedly ensured their success. I am no longer simply impressed by this woman’s commitment to results. I’ve come to expect it. She is one of the best fellows and co-workers I have ever had.
Kendall Bentsen
I had the pleasure of supervising Tara for the entire 2014-2015 school year. During that time, Tara consistently excelled at not only the core elements of her job (like holding meetings on her campus and signing up supporters), but also stood out as an exceptionally strong communicator and sincerely dedicated Ready For Hillary teammate. Her commitment lead her to create the Students for Hillary at Berkeley which, out of all of the hundreds of Students for Hillary clubs across the country, was certainly the biggest in the Western Region, if not in all of the nation. She is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Elizabeth Finnigan Laferriere
I had the privilege of serving as Tara's supervisor during her extended fellowship with the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, a unique local agency advancing women’s rights through collaborative programming, policy advocacy and grant support. Every so often, an individual comes along and raises the standard for what to expect of top young talent. Tara was one such natural leader: capable of effortlessly adapting to the needs of our fast-paced team while taking on progressively more responsibility. She has the poise, maturity and confidence of an individual with 10+ more years of experience. By the time she completed her term, she was already managing interns and expertly juggling two distinct programs in the department. Our workplace equity program, then in its infancy, required one new team member to step in immediately and boost our brand recognition, communicate our message with stakeholders and offer a high level of flexibility and independence. All at the busiest point in our first major program launch. Tara brought that needed level of professionalism and adaptability. She contributed real substance to strategy sessions and brought creativity and gumption to work everyday. She is the type of individual who never requires instructions twice. During a particularly challenging period for the program, Tara continued to prioritize the quality and future of our product. She emerged as poised and determined as ever - ready to meet and overcome any obstacle. Tara also exhibited a keen talent for strategic messaging and social media. Shortly after taking on the workplace equity program’s accounts, she nearly doubled its Twitter followers while also initiating a new online interactive experience for guests at our events. As her communications skills grew apparent, Tara was invited to coordinate the department's regularly scheduled external communication. While Tara is skilled in many aspects of the job, it was in the one-on-one interactions that she truly shined. She was just as comfortable speaking with legal experts at human rights events as she was engaging top company executives on gender equality practices. She spoke regularly with the Mayor’s staff and helped coordinate our program’s nonprofit allies and corporate stakeholders. Her diversity of experiences and background in volunteering and campaigning certainly contribute to her approachability, ease of communication and commitment to supporting disadvantaged communities. After leaving my team, Tara took on new projects, including the Cities for CEDAW campaign, and singlehandedly ensured their success. I am no longer simply impressed by this woman’s commitment to results. I’ve come to expect it. She is one of the best fellows and co-workers I have ever had.
Experience
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Steinberg Institute
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United States
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Public Policy Offices
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1 - 100 Employee
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Senior Advocate
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Apr 2022 - Present
• Develop relationships with members of the California Legislature, Administration, and staff and lead the Institute's legislative and regulatory strategies related to behavioral health. Key victories included passing landmark legislation to implement the national “988” mental health crisis hotline and securing $186.6 million for behavioral health workforce programs.• Represent the Institute by providing testimony in Legislative/Administrative hearings and comment to the media. • Lead diverse stakeholder coalitions on range of legislative interests. • Develop materials related to our policy platform including briefings, talking points, and fact sheets. Show less
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Legislative Advocate
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Dec 2020 - Apr 2022
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California State Assembly
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Legislative Offices
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700 & Above Employee
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Legislative Aide
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Jan 2019 - Dec 2020
• Managed the member’s housing, homelessness, and human services packages for the 2019/2020 legislative session leading to the adoption of four bills and two budget requests. • Reviewed, analyzed, and tracked legislation as well as made recommendations to the member on voting. • Drafted bill language, fact sheets, talking points, and other materials including draft letters of support. • Met with lobbyists, advocates, constituents, and other stakeholders on legislative and budget issues. Show less
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Consultant
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Jun 2018 - Jan 2019
• Researched and drafted “The Payback Problem,” a report on the impact of government-owed child support debt on low-income families. Recommendations were incorporated into California Assembly Bill 2325 (Carrillo, 2020), which was signed into law. • Researched and drafted “The Payback Problem,” a report on the impact of government-owed child support debt on low-income families. Recommendations were incorporated into California Assembly Bill 2325 (Carrillo, 2020), which was signed into law.
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Policy Advocacy Intern
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May 2017 - Aug 2017
• Conducted an impact assessment of probation fees, required qualitative and quantitative analysis of 118 Public Record Act Requests as well as census data disaggregated by race, gender, and income among other socioeconomic variables. • Drafted and advocated, successfully, for an amendment to include an ability-to-pay provision on municipal code violation citations for low-income homeowners (AB 345). • Researched the impact of BART prohibition orders (AB 716) and recycling convenience zones (SB 102) on the homeless. • Researched and wrote policy memos, letters of support and opposition, and talking points. • Assisted staff with lobbying visits, committee testimony, and vote counts. Show less
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California Work & Family Coalition
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Non-profit Organizations
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1 - 100 Employee
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Communications and Policy Specialist
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Jan 2016 - Jul 2016
• Coordinated the California State Assembly advocacy strategy to expand job-protected paid family leave (SB 654). • Articulated the organization’s mission, vision, and values and top legislative priorities in the 2016 Policy Platform. • Wrote content for and designed a new website to emphasize policy work; Chaired the Communications Sub-Committee.
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Intern
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Nov 2015 - Jan 2016
• Organized a two-day statewide meeting of coalition partners to determine the Coalition’s 2016 strategic agenda.
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California State Senate
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Legislative Offices
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700 & Above Employee
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Intern
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Jan 2015 - Dec 2015
• Wrote briefing notes and talking points on policies and events; planned meetings and events. • Managed constituent correspondence, participated in meetings with constituents, legislative advocates, and other legislative staff members. • Wrote briefing notes and talking points on policies and events; planned meetings and events. • Managed constituent correspondence, participated in meetings with constituents, legislative advocates, and other legislative staff members.
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Department on the Status of Women
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United States
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Government Administration
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1 - 100 Employee
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Public Policy Fellow
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Aug 2013 - Aug 2014
• Managed the Gender Equality Principles Initiative, a public-private workplace equity program based on advancing 7 gender equality principles; increased corporate participation in the Gender Equality Challenge by 30%. • Developed and led a national campaign, “Cities for CEDAW,” to pass local women’s human rights measures in 100 cities. • Tasked with internal and external departmental communications including writing press releases and newsletters, writing a newsletter for a 4000+ audience, and managing social media; doubled Department Twitter following in 6 months. • Facilitated collaboration between key non-profit, private, community-based, and city stakeholders on multiple projects. Show less
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Storefront Political Media
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Political Organizations
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1 - 100 Employee
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Policy Intern
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Jun 2013 - Aug 2013
• Researched and wrote blog posts about San Francisco housing, transportation, environment, and neighborhood policies. • Assisted in organizing a series of community forums for Tony Thurmond’s successful bid for State Assembly. • Built a target outreach list and curated advertisements for I Agree to See, an online database of political advertisements. • Researched and wrote blog posts about San Francisco housing, transportation, environment, and neighborhood policies. • Assisted in organizing a series of community forums for Tony Thurmond’s successful bid for State Assembly. • Built a target outreach list and curated advertisements for I Agree to See, an online database of political advertisements.
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Communications Intern
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May 2013 - Aug 2013
• Wrote press releases, talking points, background pieces, and fact sheets for the Mayor and his staff. • Wrote press releases, talking points, background pieces, and fact sheets for the Mayor and his staff.
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Education
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Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government
Master’s Degree, Public Policy -
University of California, Berkeley
Bachelor’s Degree, Political Science -
2015 -
Carnegie Mellon University - H. John Heinz III College
Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow
Community
