Tarrah Cooper Wright helps clients harness traditional and digital media for business development, reputation management and crisis communications. Formerly, Tarrah was Managing Director at Mercury, a leading global, bipartisan public strategy firm, where she managed business development and strategic communications at the new Chicago office. 

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Tarrah served as press secretary for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for five years. She began as the deputy press secretary of his mayoral campaign, where she served as primary spokesperson and assisted with crafting  and communicating his vision and priorities for Chicago. Tarrah also crafted messages for major events such as the 2012 NATO Summit, the  2015 National Football League Draft, Chicago Gourmet Food and Wine Festival and the 2015 James Beard Awards.

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Previously, Tarrah worked in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., where she helped manage messaging, priorities and actions for national incidents such as the H1N1 epidemic, December 25 and Times Square attempted bombings, Haitian earthquake and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

    

In 2008, Tarrah worked on the Obama-Biden Presidential Campaign in the pivotal state of Florida. She recruited, trained and managed community leaders and volunteers who worked to mobilize the community and increase voter contact. 

   

Tarrah began her career as a general assignment reporter at KOMU-NBC 8 in Columbia, Missouri. She serves on the House Committee for the Chicago Club, the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Council of Regents for Loyola University and the Membership Chair of the Economic Club. She was previously Chair of the Board of Trustees for Breakthrough Urban Ministries and is current a member of the Business Leadership Council and the National Association of Black Journalists. Tarrah graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in journalism.