Nerra, Hillary and Podesta.
Neera Tanden was born in 1970 in Bedford, Massachusetts,[3] to immigrant parents from India. She has a brother, Raj. Her parents divorced when she was five, after which Tanden's mother was on welfare for nearly two years before obtaining a job as a travel agent.[4]
Tanden graduated from UCLA in 1992, and received a degree from Yale Law School in 1996. She became involved in politics at an early age, first working on the presidential campaign of Governor Michael Dukakis.[5] At UCLA Tanden met Ben Edwards, an artist, whom she later married.[5] They have two children.[3]
Career[edit] After graduating from Yale Law School, Tanden moved to Washington, DC, where she has worked on domestic policy on Capitol Hill, in think tanks, and for senatorial and Democratic presidential campaigns. She has also written on Indian-American issues.[6] She worked with President Bill Clinton's campaign on new energy policies and health-care reform. Continuing her association with the Clintons, Tanden was policy director for the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign, shaping its policy proposals.[6][4] After Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, Tanden served as his domestic policy director for his campaign.[6]
She also served in his administration as senior adviser to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Department of Health and Human Services, aiding the effort to gain passage of Obama's healthcare legislation.[5] In 2011, Tanden was selected as President of the Center for American Progress, a Washington progressive think tank. She had started with the group soon after its founding as Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy, also serving as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and, starting in 2010, as Chief Operating Officer.[5][7]