Tara Dawson McGuinness founded the New Practice Lab, a research and design lab focused on family economic security for all Americans. She co-authored the book Power to the Public: The Promise of Public Interest Technology. Her work lies at the intersection of policy creation, implementation and citizen and community voices.
McGuinness joined New America after several years overseeing the federal teams that worked alongside city, non-profit, and philanthropic leaders in Detroit, Baltimore, and Flint, among many other communities.
McGuinness researches and teaches about how management and data practices and technology can help identify root causes and be used to solve the most pressing public issues before us.
McGuinness served as a senior adviser in the White House and in the Office of Management and Budget. In that position she worked extensively on the implementation of domestic policies including health care and economic mobility for families.
McGuinness also directed the Task Force on Community Solutions, a team of civil servants and appointed officials working to improve how agencies worked together, using data in new ways to tackle entrenched poverty and to deliver results in communities across the country.
McGuinness has spent nearly two decades working on a wide range of policy. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in urban studies.