Tara Gillam

Tara Gillam retired as the human resources director at the USDA, National Finance Center in March 2018. Prior to her role there, she held positions as a senior employee relations specialist at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; assistant chief counsel, advisor/evaluator, equal employment manager, and human resources specialist at DHHS National Institutes of Health; and as an employee relations manager, supervisory personnel management specialist, and personnel clerk for other organizations. Gillam is a member of the Florida Bar, the National Association of Professional Women, and the International Personnel Management Association. She has received many awards throughout her career, including: National Institutes of Health Director’s Award, for creation of a violence prevention and conflict resolution program, 2001; KSC Silver Dollar Group Achievement Award, NASA Kennedy Space Center, for creating and staffing a new Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate following the Columbia shuttle tragedy, 2003; and the NASA Acquisition Improvement Award, for outstanding contributions to the award of a multimillion-dollar concessions contract for the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, 2012. Gillam attended the Trial Skills National Session at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in Boulder, Colorado, and the Leadership for a Democratic Society program at the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has been a member of Alumni Leadership Council since 2019. Gillam earned a BS with psychology and sociology concentrations, Excelsior College; Juris Doctor, American University Washington College of Law.