Tara Bunch
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Tara Bunch became Chief Operating Officer of the American Kidney Fund in October 2021. In this role, she manages the supporting services of finance, administration, human resources and IT functions. Ms. Bunch is also the staff liaison with the Board of Trustees' Audit and Finance Committees.
Prior to joining AKF, Ms. Bunch was the Chief Business Operations Officer at the National Geographic Society. In this capacity, she served as an enterprise leader accountable for managing critical staff functions, including information technology, human resources, facilities, finance and planning, and metrics, evaluation and research. She worked with staff function leaders to set important policies and strategies, consistent with overall Society objectives and values, and was accountable for reporting on financial and operational performance.
Ms. Bunch joined National Geographic in 2010 as director of global strategy and business development. In that role, she was active in National Geographic's efforts across digital, publishing and commerce, focusing on travel and kids businesses. She moved into the role of Chief of Staff in 2014 and became Deputy Chief Operating Officer in 2016.
Prior to joining National Geographic in 2010, Ms. Bunch consulted for Travel Channel Media, developing financial projections for digital and other businesses in preparation for the sale of Travel Channel Media to Scripps Networks.
She previously spent nearly seven years at Discovery Communications in several financial planning and analysis roles, overseeing annual strategic and tactical business plans for all of Discovery's digital businesses. Working with management teams, she identified strategic and financial opportunities to grow current business and evaluate new business prospects.
Ms. Bunch began her career in strategic consulting for media and entertainment businesses at Accenture. She holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Washington, D.C.
