Strategist Tom Bonier Appointed CEO of TARA Group, Leadership Transitions at TargetSmart & Statara

TARA Group Expands Leadership Team Amid Record Growth; Lindsey Schuh-Cortés named new CEO of TargetSmart, Bryan Whitaker assumes role of Statara CEO 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The TARA Group, a fast-growing holding company comprised of multiple independently run companies focused on data, research, and marketing solutions, announced that veteran strategist Tom Bonier will serve as its first CEO. Bonier takes the reins of TARA Group after serving as CEO of subsidiary company TargetSmart for nearly a decade. Under Bonier's leadership, TargetSmart has become the nation's leading progressive data, services, and voter file firm.

As CEO, Bonier will oversee the Group's portfolio of independently-operated companies and provide strategic guidance to ensure they continue to grow, thrive and support their growing customer bases. Bonier will continue to serve as a senior advisor to TargetSmart and be succeeded by veteran operative Lindsey Schuh-Cortés, who most recently co-founded and served as CEO of Statara Solutions, and before that served as founding CEO of the Democratic Data Exchange (DDx). In-turn, Schuh-Cortés will be succeeded by Bryan Whitaker who has worked in political data and technology for almost two decades.

"When we launched TargetSmart in 2006 and founded what would later become the TARA Group, we had a simple mission: to help our clients apply the best data, analytics, and strategic consulting practices to the fields they operate in. We found a niche and have continued to enjoy sustained growth cycle after cycle, as we add products and services to our portfolio of companies.  Leaders like Tom, Lindsey and Bryan have been instrumental to our success, and we are thrilled that they are all taking on new roles and responsibilities," said TARA Group founders Drew Brighton and Jeff Ferguson, who have co-led the Group since its founding. Brighton and Ferguson will continue on with the company, focusing on developing innovative products and capabilities across the TARA Group.

"Lindsey Schuh Cortés' decades of experience in Democratic and progressive politics, coupled with her proven track record of success in three different chief executive roles make her the perfect person to lead TargetSmart into this new, exciting era," Bonier said. "I'm extremely proud of the work the TargetSmart team has done over the last 8 years, growing the firm into the leading data driven solutions firm in the country. I look forward to broadening my focus to the success of the full TARA Group."

Bonier continued, "Bryan Whitaker is a proven innovator and leader. As a senior leader of TargetSmart for more than six years and a co-founder of Statara Solutions, Bryan has demonstrated an acute ability to bring cutting edge data solutions to their clients." 

SOURCE The TARA Group