Dr. Tara Chandra is a political scientist and foreign policy professional with expertise in authoritarianism, human rights and democracy, political violence and international security, and gender. Tara received her PhD in Political Science with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She currently works as a policy consultant and researcher.

While pursuing her PhD at Berkeley, where her research focused on the intersection of gender and international security, Tara was selected as part of the inaugural class of the Aspen Strategy Group’s Rising Leaders Program (2021). In the 2022-2023 academic year, she was a U.S. Institute of Peace Minerva Peace and Security scholar. At Berkeley, she also served as co-Chair of Women in Political Science and co-Chair of the Diversity Student Action committee.

Tara holds a Master’s degree from Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs. While at Yale, she served as Managing Editor for Interviews for the Yale Journal of International Affairs. Tara was also a founding member of Jackson Women, an organization that connects Master’s students with Yale undergraduates and provides mentorship opportunities for undergraduate women. She received her undergraduate degree with Honors from the University of Chicago.

In her pre-academic professional life, Tara worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she was the lead researcher on a book on U.S. national security and foreign policy. She has also held internship and fellowship positions at myriad think tanks, in federal government, and on Capitol Hill.