Tara strives to connect the dots between healthy people and healthy democracies, bringing consumer and citizen perspectives to conversations about culture change in health care and other complex systems. In 2017, she founded Civic Health Partners, an independent consulting practice working with purpose-driven organizations to develop trustworthy leadership and public engagement strategies. As an EMCC-accredited coach, Tara works with leaders to reflect on the intersection of empathy and evidence and supports them through the development of ethical approaches to build public trust. Tara’s interest in the power of trust was forged during her 14 years with Consumer Reports, the world’s largest nonprofit consumer organization. As a senior leader focused on Health Impact, she developed strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of consumers, advocated for transparency and accountability in healthcare, led a team of researchers and journalists, secured millions in grant funding, and launched the public engagement campaign for Choosing Wisely with the ABIM Foundation. Tara is currently an Executive in Residence at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, where she collaborates with the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, facilitates workshops for MBA students on social impact leadership, and contributes practitioner insights to graduate and executive programs in leadership.
In the second blog of AcademyHealth’s series outlining our collaborative process of developing a research agenda to advance high-value, equitable health care, patient advocate Tara Montgomery shares her perspective on the importance and impact of this work.