After a great run, the Winning the Internet blog has been retired. However, you can still keep in touch with New Media Mentors here.
I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined the New Media Mentors team – as of June 2015!
Tanya Tarr, Senior Mentor
I’ve followed their development over the last several years and look forward to putting my field-tested experience to work, advising and supporting groups on the front lines of social change.
I look forward to:
- Providing groups with the best possible tools and strategy.
- Empowering staff and leaders to develop a culture and habit of excellence.
- Supporting adoption of new skills and tools paired with long-term planning.
- Elevating victories, both big and small.
Over the last 15 years, I’ve witnessed first-hand how new media technology can integrate with offline organizing. The trick is to adopt inclusive planning that can fuse smart strategy with a long term vision of change.
Other things you should know about me – Al Gore’s presidential campaign disrupted my senior year at Carnegie Mellon University. Despite jumping on his campaign, I managed to graduate and complete my Masters of Science in Public Policy and Management in 2002. Learning statistics, performance measurement and program assessment turned out to be cutting edge skills that were surprisingly useful in the political and organizing world I was about to dive in to.
I remember reading blogs in 2004 when I worked at the Democratic National Committee, marveling at how fast news media was changing. I remember in 2005 prototyping innovative business processes and using data mining in ways before “data” was an established professional track in the progressive field. It helped me positively shape Working America’s member data and save the organization a hefty amount of resources.
I learned so much about building the Labor Movement at the headquarters of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Washington, D.C., and got to collaborate with many progressive allies as a member of the Analyst Institute. My two and half year stint included spending 10 months on the road for Hillary Clinton (on the Labor side) during the memorable 2008 presidential primary election. I also introduced AFSCME’s affiliates to using the Voter Activation Network for member mobilization. In 2009, I moved to Texas to work on the union front lines. At the Texas American Federation of Teachers, I grew their political and legislative mobilization program, tripling their state political work over the last six years and supporting affiliates in winning tough local elections across the state.
Each cycle – whether political or legislative – had its moments of victory and loss. Yet I have seen real change happen when organizations commit to deep infrastructure development between political and legislative cycles, particularly when that vision is tied to relevant issues that matter to people. That commitment and dedication to a longer term vision can shift impossible situations towards winning outcomes.
I’m excited to support this vital work, and to meet you to be a part of New Media Mentors. You can reach me here. Please be in touch!
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