Keynote - Tara Abrahams - Rethinking the Reset: New Approaches to Protecting and Advancing Girls’ and Women’s Rights

Tara Abrahams

Managing Director, Arabella Advisors

Board Chair, She’s the First

https://www.linkedin.com/in/taraabrahams/

Tara Abrahams currently serves as a managing director in the New York office of Arabella Advisors, a leading philanthropic advisory firm that provides strategic guidance for effective philanthropy, supporting clients in moving from idea to impact. Tara leads Arabella’s work with corporate partners across a broad range of issues, from education to mental health to racial justice, with a special interest in advancing women’s and girl’s issues. Tara is the board chair of She’s the First, an organization that teams up with local grassroots partners in 12 countries to fight for a world where every girl chooses her own future. She recently joined the board of the International Center for Research on Women, the world’s premier research institute focused on tackling challenges facing women and girls worldwide.

Tara is also the founder of kahani, a magazine and media platform specifically designed to lift up the stories of adolescent girls around the world. Through the power of storytelling and creativity, girls will have the opportunity to inform, elevate, and inspire one another.

Prior to joining Arabella, Tara served as a managing director of VOW, an initiative to end child marriage around the world. In that role, she led the startup phase for a new campaign and consumer brand that mobilizes the wedding industry to join the movement to end child marriage, in partnership with leading brands, the media, influencers, and the public. Tara began her work in girls’ education and women’s empowerment as the deputy director and president of Girl Rising, a global campaign and feature film that reached millions of viewers and activists around the world. She then went on to advise organizations such as Girls Who Code and the Girls Opportunity Alliance at the Obama Foundation, founded by former first lady Michelle Obama. She also served as executive director of The Girl Project at Glamour. Tara’s experience includes serving as the founding director of the Maverick Capital Foundation, as a strategy consultant at Bridgespan, and as a managing director at Acelero Learning, a social purpose company that supports early childhood education and development for low-income families across the United States.

Tara graduated with honors from Harvard College and completed her MBA at the Harvard Business School, where she received the Horace W. Goldsmith Fellowship for outstanding contributions to the nonprofit sector. As an active member of the Harvard Alumni Association, Tara leads local and international efforts related to women’s empowerment and anti-racism. A committed advocate for girls’ education and leadership, Tara serves as a trustee of The Brearley School in Manhattan. Tara lives in New York City and Connecticut with her husband and three children.