We are proud to announce another new board member, Tara Owens Shuler! Tara lives in Creedmoor, NC with her husband, Barton. Tara is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health. Tara currently works in the Public Health field and has focused the majority of her 23-year career working with maternal and child health programs. Tara is a Lamaze certified childbirth educator and have taught classes at Rex Healthcare on a part-time basis for the past 20 years. As a Lamaze teacher and trainer, Tara has used her passion to train nurses and NGO workers in Nairobi, Kenya and Kuwait City, Kuwait. Tara currently serves on the NC Perinatal Association (NCPA) Board of Directors and co-directs the Lamaze Childbirth Educator training program through NCPA. Tara is a member of The Summit Church. When not working or teaching, Tara enjoys reading, gardening and traveling with her husband.
When asked why she said yes to being a new AJ board member, Tara said, “As a public health educator, I joined the Addis Jemari Board because their mission and vision aligns with the core principles of public health. In 2017, I traveled with Addis Jemari to serve in Ethiopia and I witnessed Addis Jemari investing in the Ethiopian workforce and economy, as well as implementing a program that has population health implications for generations to come by providing access to education; development of life skills, financial management, and social skills for young girls.
I vividly remember a conversation I had with Cindy and she indicated that a goal of Addis Jemari was to invest financial resources into the economy whenever a mission team travels to Ethiopia. At the time, Cindy has no way of knowing how excited I got because she sounded like a public health colleague and our goal in public health is to support communities in allocating resources that will assist them in best meeting their needs. By investing finances into the Ethiopian economy, we were assisting small business owners and employers to employ workers.
As a believer, I joined Addis Jemari because I believe that AJ has an authentic mission of service to not only Addis Jemari program staff and young girls, but to other partner organizations in Addis Ababa. During my time in Addis Ababa, our team made a difference in the short amount of time we were in the country. It was evident that we blessed women, men and children in Addis through our giving, but I believe we made a greater impact by exhibiting God’s love through our service.”