Tara Sonenshine


Tara D. Sonenshine was the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2012 to 2013. She is now a Distinguished Fellow at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs.She has been Senior Career Coach at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University since January 2017. In this role she assists students in the Masters’ program to navigate their global careers.
In 1981, she graduated from Tufts University Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in political science.
Sonenshine is the recipient of 10 News Emmy Awards in broadcast journalism. She has been the Executive Vice President of United States Institute of Peace. Sonenshine served in various capacities at the White House during the Clinton Administration, including Transition Director, Director of Foreign Policy Planning and Deputy Director of Communications for the National Security Council and Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton.
She sits on the advisory board for Washington, D.C. nonprofit America Abroad Media.
Sonenshine began her broadcasting career by working for ABC News in New York. She worked as a reporter at the Pentagon for ABC, and for more than a decade she was editorial producer of ABC News’ Nightline. Also, Sonenshine has written multiple articles for newspapers like the New York Times or the Washington Post.