Tara Richardson holds 16+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Human Resources and Operations Administration with top public sector educational organizations. Tara’s expertise includes recruitment and retention, relationship building, program development, and training. At Medellin & Associates, Tara leads project teams in: Recruitment, Staff Augmentation, Talent Management and Human Resources, while participating in new business development efforts.
Most recently, Tara held the position of Regional Program Manager at EdisonLearning, providing operational leadership and new business development for afterschool tutoring programs aimed at Chicago Public Schools low-performing schools. Tara managed the program development of 20+ schools, while overseeing all operational needs including: staffing, on boarding, training, budget maintenance, material procurement and delivery, attendance maintenance for staff and students, program celebrations, and payroll. Tara supervised more than 40 staff and provided conflict resolution, performance management, and employee relations support for each building.
Prior to EdisonLearning, Tara worked for Chicago Public Schools as the Talent Acquisition Manager providing teacher recruitment services for over 600 public schools. Tara managed a team of 13 to identify qualified teacher candidates to fill over 1,000 open requisitions per year. Tara worked with local and national universities to establish a path of entry for all newly graduated teacher candidates to find employment with Chicago Public schools via job fairs, class presentations, student teacher placements, and bus tours.
Tara also taught workshop classes sponsored by the National Able Network at Oakton Community College as a part of a return to work project for adults who had been unemployed for more than a year.
Tara earned a Master of Science degree in Human Resources from Loyola University-Chicago and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration emphasis in Human Resources from Old Dominion University. Tara also holds a PHR certification.