A Data-Driven Analysis of Why Black Students and Students with Disabilities are Arrested Disproportionately in Maryland Public Schools

Please join us for “A Data-Driven Analysis of Why Black Students and Students with Disabilities are Arrested Disproportionately in Maryland Public Schools” with Tamara Ward.

Tamara Ward is a 2023 NABJ Pew Youth Justice Fellow. A MDDC Press Association award-winning multi-platform journalist, she is also an accomplished communications professional with over 20 years of experience in various communications disciplines, including journalism, media relations, crisis communications, marketing, social media, and web. However, journalism is Tamara's first love. She has experience covering environment, sports, government, politics, and community news for a variety of platforms, including print, online, and broadcast.

The very first interview she conducted was with Rosa Parks. Decades later, Tamara reported for E&E News on Capitol Hill about environmental and energy policy and politics and where they intersect with the Trump administration, the 2020 Presidential campaign, the House impeachment inquiry, the State of the Union Address, and COVID-19. In 2024, Tamara completed a fellowship with NABJ and The Pew Research Center.

Previously, she covered the Maryland General Assembly, county government, and local and state politics for APG Media. Her articles appeared in a half dozen newspapers in Maryland, including The Calvert Recorder, The Maryland Independent, and The Enterprise.

A Brookings Legis Fellow in the House of Representatives, she managed gun violence prevention, veterans’ issues, voters' rights and more. Currently, she works in a robust press office in the federal government.

A two-time graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, Tamara earned a bachelor's in Speech Communications and, as an Eleanor Merrill Fellow, she obtained a master's in Broadcast Journalism.