Ambassador Linda Tarr-Whelan is the author of  Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World and a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow.  Linda has also served as Ambassador to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women in the Clinton administration and as Deputy Assistant for Women’s Concerns to President Jimmy Carter.  Tarr-Whelan joins Speak Up! to discuss what inspired her to write Women Lead the Way and what she thinks is holding back the movement of women into leadership positions in government and business.

More about Linda Tarr-Whelan
Linda Tarr-Whelan, Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow directs the Demos Women’s Leadership Initiative Forum Series. Ms. Tarr-Whelan has had a varied career as a nurse, management consultant, advocate, non-profit leader, communicator, union negotiator and government official at the state, national and international levels.

She served as Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in the Clinton administration and as Deputy Assistant for Women’s Concerns to President Jimmy Carter in the Carter White House.  She was the first nurse appointed to these positions.  Ladies Home Journal named her as one of the 50 most powerful women in Washington. She also serves as Chair of the National Advisory Council for the Pax World Resources Women’s Equity Fund.

Her policy experience has also included a sub-cabinet appointment in New York State government, Director of Policy for a large public sector union and Chief Lobbyist for the National Education Association. As CEO of the Center for Policy Alternatives, the leading progressive policy and leadership center for the 50 states, she focused on women and the economy. She and her husband created a successful international management consultancy that worked with leaders of foundations, non-profits, businesses and international organizations.

More about Demos
A multi-issue national organization, Demos combines research, policy development, and advocacy to influence public debates and catalyze change. This organization publishes books, reports, and briefing papers that illuminate critical problems and advance innovative solutions; work at both the national and state level with advocates and policymakers to promote reforms; help to build the capacity and skills of key progressive constituencies; project Demos' values into the media by promoting Demos Fellows and staff in print, broadcast, and Internet venues; and host public events that showcase new ideas and leading progressive voices.