Tara Rao

Tara first knew she wanted to work on social justice issues working as an architect in Nepal in the early-90’s on a community-led school design project. In the last over 30 years, working across disciplines, she has been employing her design skills, shaping strategies and action in the areas of development, environment and human rights – with campaigns, building and facilitating teams, measuring impact, while working with non-governmental (Amnesty, Greenpeace, WWF) and various bilateral and multi-lateral organisations in Asia, Africa and beyond.

She led and mentored (Good Pitch in Karnataka), constructing and curating an initiative for social projects with media at the heart of change-making that culminating in a very successful pitching event. Her interest in education deepened when she conceptualised, strategised and headed the Human Rights Education Programme for Amnesty International India, framing the role of HRE within Amnesty India’s vision, mission and national programme portfolio.

Her interests in today’s complex challenges (higher education, climate action, structural racism, among others) are driven by building opinion and seeking consensus within communities and society as a whole towards building a collective sense of purpose and action, while interrogating how institutions need to be equipped to support that. She is the Impact Producer and Storytelling Advisor for TECHNOCATS – a documentary film on the purpose and product of higher education.