Tara Dowdell, founder of the Tara Dowdell Group, an award-winning social good public relations and marketing agency, was recently awarded the 2023 Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award by the Women’s Transportation Seminar – Greater New York Chapter.
The Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award is presented to an individual who has consistently promoted diversity, inclusion and multicultural awareness in the transportation industry and has exhibited extraordinary efforts in advancing professional opportunities for women and minorities.
Dowdell was nominated for the award by the New York office of HNTB, a national transportation infrastructure design firm.
“I’m overwhelmed by this recognition and am enormously grateful to Lori Katzman and Desiree Gazzo of the HNTB New York office for nominating me for this tremendous honor,” she said.
Dowdell stressed that she feels the award is about the mission.
“I’d like to thank the WTS-GNY leadership and members for continuing to promote the quantifiable benefits of diversity, equity & inclusion in the transportation sector,” she said. “Project outcomes are measurably stronger as a result of increasing diversity in the industry.
About Tara Dowdell Group
Tara Dowdell Group is a certified M/WBE public relations and marketing agency with a passion for promoting organizations, institutions and businesses that are engaged in social good.
Its clients consist of foundations, nonprofits, public sector agencies, health care organizations and mission-driven businesses. Its services include public relations, community outreach, branding and marketing, and graphic and website design.
TDG feels the most effective communications strategies unify these services, which is why it offers all of them in-house.
“My firm is proud to partner with the HNTB New York office on their Associate Partners Program, a supplier diversity program that is working to expand access and remove barriers to entry as well as to prepare more women-, minority- and veteran-owned firms to collaborate on the region’s most critical infrastructure projects.”
The Tara Dowell Group has coordinated, marketed and led numerous workshops for the HNTB New York office Associate Partners Program, including with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the New York City Department of Design and Construction.
TDG is also a subconsultant to HNTB on major infrastructure projects, providing branding, marketing, design and outreach services.
In addition to championing diversity in the transportation industry, Dowdell and the TDG team have developed local and national PR and marketing campaigns for clients who are facilitating equal access to opportunities for women and people of color.
In 2020, the state of New Jersey selected and recognized TDG for providing public relations, marketing and outreach for its COVID-19 relief grant programs for small businesses. Its efforts substantially increased the number of women and people of color applying for and receiving grants.
