Tamara Williams Van Horn

  • (they/ them/theirs/she/her/hers)
  • Assistant Director, Education and Social Change
tamara headshot

As the assistant director for the Education and Social Change program, Tamara provides leadership and strategic planning in disseminating inclusive excellence practices and educational programs that promote social justice, multicultural and intercultural understanding with the aim of encouraging meaningful engagement across students’ differences. The Education and Social Change program includes peer education with student-facilitated workshops, and the Ignite Social Justice & Leadership Conference. 

Tamara also supports the following:

  • Women's Herstory Month History & Heritage committee
  • Kitchen Table, a community-building gathering centering the experiences of women of color
  • Women Leaders’ Salon, which brings together leaders from on and off campus, both students and staff
  • Queer Cheer, a weekly craft gathering
  • Crafts & Doing Language, a monthly opportunity to write, craft and share work in community 

Tamara, a part of the team that established The Center in 2018, began working at CU Boulder as a graduate student and instructor in 2008. During that time, she also served with the former CU Women’s Resource Center, the Graduate Teaching Program and as a Provost’s Fellow in the CU Libraries. A Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practitioner with certifications in trauma-informed practice and multiple creativity modalities, Tamara has a passion for helping students leverage their strengths and connect with the power of identity work in order to engage them in thinking about personal development, lifelong learning and intra- and extra-community solidarity. Tamara supports and advocates for students using intersectional feminist values and leveraging the power of shared narratives. 

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Tamara earned a Master of Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from the University of Cincinnati. Outside of their work on campus, Tamara reads voraciously, consults with community serving organizations, and navigates home ownership with their partner and The Boss, their seven-year-old cat.