Jennifer Tanaka is senior policy officer for the Roma Initiatives Office. Her main responsibilities focus on local and national advocacy organizing of Roma NGOs, supporting capacity building for Roma NGO development, and the monitoring and evaluation procedures of the Roma Initiatives Office. Tanaka has been working on Roma-related issues in Central and Eastern Europe for over 15 years. Prior to joining the Open Society Foundations, she worked with Roma groups on leadership development, human rights education, and community development.
Tanaka has published widely on various policy issues concerning Roma inclusion, drawing from grassroots experiences of Roma NGOs and communities. This includes the coordination of action research and case study analysis on active citizenship; income-generation and employment; local action planning for Roma inclusion; and combating racism and intolerance towards Roma.
She holds a BA in history with a contemporary European focus and an MA in the politics of alternative development strategies, specializing in nongovernmental development organizations and human development and gender.