Tara Ballesteros

With experience in both the public and private sectors, Tara leads grassroots community outreach, creating public awareness campaigns, and building strategic partnerships in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities. Recognizing a need to communicate clearly and compassionately to those most in need, she has spent nearly 10 years in victim services developing and implementing communications strategies for Department of Justice-funded projects, including the Tribal Financial Management Center. She also supported the mass violence responses to the Pulse, Vegas, and Parkland shootings.

Tara spent more than 10 years in Spanish-language media overseeing the marketing and communications for the largest independent owner of Telemundo affiliate television stations. She served as Telemundo’s company liaison to Congress and the Federal Communications Commission advocating for increased broadband access and promoting localism and diversity in broadcasting.

A graduate of the University of Kansas, Tara’s master’s thesis, A Legacy of Cultural Violence, explored the epidemic of femicides occurring along the U.S./Mexico border. Tara is passionate about engaging audiences and crafting clear, targeted messaging to break through the noise.