Tara Perry is Vice President of Strategic Planning and Initiatives with the Woodruff Arts Center. She joined the Woodruff team to lead the enterprise-wide strategic planning effort and manage special initiatives and projects. Before joining, the Woodruff Arts Center she was working with the American Red Cross in Chicago, IL to develop and lead a Regional Preparedness/Education Initiative that involved partnerships with the City of Chicago, Illinois Emergency Management, the Illinois Department of Health and required a major funding strategy.

Tara has over 20 years of experience working in executive roles for several organizations to include, Managing Partner of 3TCM Enterprises, a management consulting firm specializing in organizational development, marketing, strategic planning and resource development. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit’s (MARTA) Assistant General Manager, Corporate Strategy, and External Affairs. In that role, she was responsible for leading MARTA’s strategic, operational and transit system planning efforts, community relations, marketing and sales, communications, government relations, customer service, real estate, transit oriented development, station operations and parking services.

Tara served as a senior executive with The American Red Cross in Atlanta Georgia and Washington DC, holding several positions throughout her nine-year career with the organization. During her tenure with the Red Cross, she was responsible for program development, k-12 health and safety education, service delivery, community relations, strategic planning, marketing, sales, volunteer management, resource development, board development, administration, quality assurance and customer service.

Life before non-profit and government included work with the Kroger Company in operations, human resources and community relations; work with Federated Department Stores and The Atlanta Braves in marketing and public relations.

She is very active in her native Atlanta community, volunteering and serving on the Boards and committees of several organizations. She serves on the Boards of Devereux, Essentials 2 Life, New Community Fellowship Church, WOGCL, The 100 Black Women of Atlanta President’s Advisory Board, and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health’s Advisory Board. A member of the 1997 class of Leadership Atlanta, she continues to stay involved on the program and membership committees.

Tara received her undergraduate degrees in public relations and marketing from Clark Atlanta University, and an MBA from Mercer University. She is also a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Leadership Program.