Tara Cookson
Canada Research Chair and Assistant Professor of Gender, Development, and Global Public Policy, University of British Columbia.
Tara Patricia Cookson is a Canada Research Chair and Assistant Professor of Gender, Development, and Global Public Policy at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) at the University of British Columbia. She uses ethnographic and mixed methods to study how power operates in development policy, with a focus on gender data, social protection, and care work. Her approach to public scholarship integrates academic research, practice-oriented publications, and direct engagement with international policy processes. She does this in part through Ladysmith, a feminist research consultancy she cofounded that helps international organizations collect, analyze and take action on gender data. She has collaborated with global development institutions such as UN Women, the International Labour Organization, UNICEF, Global Affairs Canada, USAID, Action Against Hunger, and the OECD-DAC Governance Network, among others. Dr. Cookson is the author of the award-winning book, Unjust Conditions: Women’s Work and the Hidden Cost of Cash Transfer Programs (University of California Press, Open Access). Her research has been published in Antipode, Gender Place & Culture, the International Journal of Feminist Politics, and Global Public Health. She regularly contributes commentary and analysis to outlets such as Devex, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and the Toronto Star.