Tara Fannon, PhD
Research | Development | Strategy | Innovation
I'm a sociology PhD, seasoned mixed-methods research leader, and certified agile and human-centered design practitioner with 16 years of experience in mixed-methods research. I come to research through a non-traditional path, having also been a graphic designer and certified bodyworker, careers that shaped how I make sense of human experience and think about research.
With roots in ethnography and narrative inquiry, my research is culturally grounded and commercially relevant, and blends depth and rigor. I’ve led virtual and in-person social impact and Total Experience (CX/EX/UX) research in education, government, non-profit, and B2B/B2C markets (including health and life sciences, media, tech, and finance) that's directly shaped human-centered solutions in product, service, and process design. My work in academia and industry have garnered awards for originality, impact, and excellence.
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I’ve navigated several industry pivots as a researcher, each time immersing myself in the landscape and adapting quickly to new and unfamiliar culture and contexts. This approach, combined with my diverse career experience, has taught me how to be agile, resourceful, and proactive, and ensured that my research is precise and informed.
I’m a curious, collaborative, and relational research leader who excels at creating structure out of uncertainty and building trust across teams. I have a proven track record of running end-to-end projects with full ownership and minimal oversight, and I know how to communicate research value and impact to different audiences.​
I’m also skilled at building and scaling research tools and practices from the ground up, spearheading innovation, nurturing partnerships with others, and driving business development. As a lifelong learner, I've enjoyed opportunities to design and lead company and community initiatives that facilitate knowledge-sharing, growth, and cross-functionality.
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More than anything, I’m passionate about accessibility—not just as a design principle, but as a social and structural imperative. I began my research career working in and with the disability and Deaf communities. That work is foundational to how I approach research to this day: with care, thoughtfulness, and a practice that’s as inclusive as it is impactful.
When I'm not immersed in research, you can find me being a creative social butterfly. I sing in Yacht Rock Choir, play in a shuffleboard league, dance every chance I get, collage and diamond paint, and love building playlists. Back in the day, making mix tapes was my jam. My friends call me a connector because I love introducing people and bringing them together for parties, projects, and anything in between. I've moved around a bit in my life. These days I'm based in NYC and love it here — it's weird and wonderful. Before that, I lived in Dublin, Ireland, and a few other places in the U.S.
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I love to connect with other researchers and creatives of all sorts. Resume and CV available upon request.
Skills
Research Design & Execution
Strategy & Innovation
Client Development & Management
Project Operations & Management
Business Development
Teaching & Learning Innovation
Communications
Accessibility Advocacy
Ethical and Generative AI
Compassionate Leadership
Mentorship
Methods
Interviews
Focus Groups
Listening Sessions
Surveys
Diaries
Observations
Social and Behavioral Analysis
Discourse & Thematic Analysis
Sentiment & Content Analysis
Literature & Landscape Reviews
Environmental Scans
Open Source Data Reviews
Agile
CX/EX/UX
Ethnography
Personas
Journey Mapping
Voice of the Patient / Customer
Jobs-To-Be-Done
SWOT Analysis
Media Analysis
Concept / Message Testing
Competititve and Trend Analysis
Narrative & Cultural Inquiry
Trauma-Informed Practices
Frameworks
Human-Centered Design
Contextual Inquiry
Blueprints
Heuristic Reviews
Concept Ideation
Problem Framing
Prototyping
Design Rationale
Select Applications
Dedoose & NVivo
Survey Monkey
Mural & Miro
Canva
Discuss.io
Google Workspace & Microsoft 365
SharePoint
Slack & Teams
Education & Certifications
PhD Sociology
MA Medical Sociology
BA Sociology
Human-Centered Design
Human Subjects Research Protections
Quant Market Research Foundations
Agency Agile
GenAI for Project Managers
DEI in the Workplace
Paperwork Reduction Act Compliance
Recommendations
Marisa Baldwin Cole
Specialist Leader, Deloitte
"Tara approached every client challenge with a clear approach expertly tailored to the project team and client’s needs. Her research efforts produced data-driven insights to drive strategic decisions which led to impactful outcomes for clients. Tara is deeply passionate about research and brings a thoughtful, intentional approach to all that she does."
Melissa Vogel, PhD
Founder & CEO, Great Heron Insights
"Tara is both highly experienced and knowledgeable, with an ability to do end to end mixed methods market research for a range of sectors and industries. She completes research quickly without sacrificing quality and rigor, works successfully and collaboratively in cross-functional teams (remote or in person) and enjoys mentoring junior researchers. She is an excellent communicator across mediums and excels at building relationships with people of all sorts."
Tine Reese
Director of Customer and User Experience, Aptive Resources
"Tara grew a culture of curiosity, rigor, and impact. She helped account leads and project teams understand the value of research as a strategic asset, leading to stronger design decisions and better customer outcomes. She is a mentor and advocate for her team, always fostering growth and supporting people with empathy and intention."
Jennifer Farrell, SHRM-CP
Career Coaching & Training Specialist, BAE Systems Inc.
"Tara has a unique ability to make research methods and practices available and accessible across the enterprise. She's able to distill complicated information and explain it simply to colleagues who are unfamiliar with research topics, and she's able to consult on projects that could be improved with a more rigorous research approach."
Nikky Greer, PhD
Senior Research Associate, Aptive Resources
"As a leader, Tara is collaborative. She perpetually networks to grow the impact of her team (and research) cross-functionally and organizationally. She brings purpose to helping others understand what qualitative and mixed methods research can do for an organization or project...Most meaningfully to me, as her direct report, she brings the same passion for her self-development to her team. She regularly checked with me to see how she could support my career and personal growth and delivered on her promises."
Jeremy Fowler
Research Operations Manager, Hanover Research
"I have worked with Tara on over 30 qualitative projects and enjoyed every minute of it. She is professional, dependable, and adaptable in many difficult situations...Her knowledge in this field is truly masterful and her inquisitive nature is a strong skill set for any team."
More kind words and professional endorsements, right this way →
Experience
Social Impact Research
This research explores how language, systems, and culture shape lived experience. It includes multi-year ethnographic studies using diaries, observations, interviews, and discourse and narrative analysis to examine and explain the intersection of disability, beauty norms, and wellness culture and how health and employment systems impact disability social and economic mobility.
My work also includes using social and behavioral methods to understand Deaf identity (a linguistic and cultural community not considered a disability) and deafness (understood as a disability). In these areas, I've conducted secondary research tracing textual representations and differences between Deaf identity and deafness over a 200-year period, with attention given to analyzing specific language, meanings, and social implications. It also includes narrative research examining lived and relational experiences of being Deaf and Queer, what it means to come out as one or the other in different contexts, and how that shapes familial and peer relationships.
Working with disability and reproductive health nonprofits and educational associations, I’ve designed and led research and communications initiatives using interviews, open-source data reviews, media analysis, and other methods to amplify education and advocacy, drive audience engagement, inform high-impact messaging and outreach, and facilitate international and institutional partnership development.
Market Research
My market research spans education, government, and B2B/B2C markets, including healthcare, tech, media, financial services. I draw from a robust toolkit of methods, frameworks, and applications. Versatility enables me to adapt to different settings and connect with different audiences such as end-users, suppliers, competitors, industry experts, regulators, and policymakers across specialities.
I've had the opportunity to partner with school districts and higher ed to identify needs, gaps, and solutions in academic program development and impact, student success, school climate, and enrollment and community engagement. I've collaborated with start-ups, enterprise, and Fortune 500 brands, such as TikTok, Docusign, Scott Brothers Global, Matterport, and S&P Global, on research informing product innovation, marketing and brand optimization, and market positioning. I've worked with federal government agencies, including Veterans Health Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service, and National Science Foundation, leading CX/EX/UX mixed methods research to inform full suite strategic engagement creative, media, and digital solutions.
Research Strategy & Innovation
Beyond being a researcher, I love to develop research tools and practices that enhance research impact. This includes building and standardizing processes and policies, developing and testing new methods, and creating resources such as knowledge repositories, delivery templates, planning rubrics, and progress trackers. Building on these foundations, I've collaborated with clients, sales, marketing, and business development teams to identify, pitch, and scope research, write proposals, and design blueprints, promotional content, and go-to-market strategies all of which have facilitated research scale and revenue.
Teaching & Research Development
As a lifelong learner, I'm passionate about teaching and learning that enables growth, collaboration, and impact across teams and communities. I’ve built Research Communities of Practice and led Innovation Labs and Human-Centered Design workshops. I’ve taught classes on bartering as a social and economic practice and taught art, movement, and financial literacy classes in the disability community. I’ve also developed and taught undergraduate critical writing and sociology courses on health, gender, disability, and research methods using a range of modalities such as, online, self-paced, case-based, and peer-to-peer approaches, to support different learning styles.
Select Writing & Editing
Navigating Gender Norms and Disability Disclosure: Toward Inclusive Policy and Practice. Fannon, Tara. Working Paper.
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Sensory Disability and Systems Design: Practical Gaps and Pathways Forward. Fannon, Tara. Working Paper.​
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2025 (forthcoming, October). Deafness. Mauldin, Laura and Fannon, Tara. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society. Second Edition.
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2024. Veterans' VA Benefits Experiences and Solutions: A Qualitative Study. Fannon, Tara and Greer, Nikky. White Paper (working paper). Aptive Resources and Artemis Arc
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2024. Veterans Speak Out: VA vs. Community Care. Greer, Nikky; Miller, Allison; Regalado, Maria; and Fannon, Tara. White Paper. Aptive Resources
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2024. The PACT Act: Awareness, Understanding, and Opportunities to Engage Veterans. Greer, Nikky; Fannon, Tara, and Robert Wong. White Paper. Aptive Resources
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2023. Social Technology, Mental Health Support, and Suicide Prevention in Veteran and Military Populations: A Survey. Bottrell, Melissa; Fannon, Tara; Gorman, Kate; Greer, Nikky R.; McHugh, Kathleen; Opsahl, Wendy; Winkler, Michelle; and Wright, Anne. White Paper.​ Aptive Resources and Artemis Arc
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2021. Book Review of Blindness Through the Looking Glass. by Gili Hammer. Fannon, Tara. Disability Studies Quarterly. Volume 41 (1).
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2020. Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges of Alliances and Allyship in the Lives of People with Disabilities. Carey, Allison; Ostrove, Joan; and Fannon, Tara (Eds). Research in Social Science and Disability. Volume 12. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
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2020. Introduction. "Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges of Alliances and Allyship in the Lives of People with Disabilities". Carey, Allison; Ostrove, Joan; and Fannon, Tara. Research in Social Science and Disability. Volume 12. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
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2020. Will’s Story: Managing Culturally Irreconcilable Identities in Everyday Life. Fannon, Tara. Disability Studies Quarterly. Volume 40 (4).
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2020. They Told Me My Name: Developing a Deaf Identity. Mauldin, Laura and Fannon, Tara. Symbolic Interaction.​
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2017. A Sociology of Deafness: A Literature Review of the Disciplinary History. Mauldin, Laura and Fannon, Tara. In: Sociology Looking at Disability: What Did We Know and When Did We Know it. Research in Social Science and Disability. Volume 9. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
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2016. Out of Sight, Still in Mind: Visually Impaired Women's Embodied Accounts of Ideal Femininity. Fannon, Tara. Disability Studies Quarterly. Volume 36 (1).
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2016. Not Seeing is Still Believing. Fannon, Tara. in W.W. Norton Reader: Assigned Life with Gender. Volume 6, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
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2014. Book Review of Imagining Masculinities: Spatial and Temporal Representation and Visual Culture. by K. Kosmala. Fannon, Tara. Norma: International Journal of Masculinity Studies. Volume 9 (4).
Other Contributions
2025 (October). Laid Off: Documenting How DOGE Cuts Hit GovCon Workers. [Article]. Produced by: Laid Off
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2025 (September). DOGE Cut My Job and Healthcare. [Video Testimonial]. Produced by: Home of The Brave
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2025 (July). DOGE Ruined Lives! People Are Not Waste & Fraud. [Podcast Interview]. Produced by: Passion in Motion​
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​​2019. Disability and Gender Narratives. [Invited Talk]. Disability, Society, and Culture Seminar Series. Columbia University, NYC​​
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2019. Identity Stories: Representing Visual Disability and Masculinity and in Personal Narrative. Disability & Society Roundtable. American Sociological Association
2019. They Told Me My Name: The Social Processes of Deaf Identity. Co-presentation with Laura Mauldin. Social Psychology Roundtable. American Sociological Association
2017. As We Are: Blind and Visually Impaired Self-Identity Narratives. Poster Presentation. Sociological Association of Ireland
2016. Being Seen and Heard on Our Terms: Emerging Themes in Blind and Visually Impaired Men's Personal Identity Narratives. Critical Dialogues Panel. Society for the Study of Social Problems
2015. Out of Sight, Still in Mind: Blind and Visually Impaired Women's Accounts of Ideal Femininity. Body and Embodiment Round Table. Eastern Sociological Society
2015. Invited Presider and Discussant. Body & Embodiment Roundtable. Eastern Sociological Association Conference