Tavares J. Terry is the Director of Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion for Washington State Technology Solutions (WaTech) where he leads the agency efforts to provide digital equity in systems used by the citizens of the state in accessing various services.

Tavares started his tenure with Washington State government as a Health Insurance Benefit Advisor, assisting clients with finding Medicare plans during open enrollment periods and would later serve in many roles with the Department of Social and Health Services Aging and Long Term-Support administration including as the Director for the Communications Government and External Relations team. In this role, Tavares was charged with oversight of the work relating to communications, legislature, equity, diversity, access and inclusion, labor management, public disclosure discovery, language access and the ADA, strategic planning, and emergency risk management. Through these efforts, Tavares was awarded the 2022 Governor’s Award for outstanding leadership.

Born in Warm Springs, Georgia, Tavares moved with his family to the state of Washington where he graduated high school. Tavares attended the Evergreen State College where he received his master’s degree in public administration.

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