Ep 91 - Meet Tara August, SVP, Talent Relations & Special Projects, Turner Sports & Bleacher Report

I Choose the Ladder

In this episode you meet Tara August the Senior Vice President of Talent Relations & Special Projects for Turner Sports and Bleacher Report, where she oversees the division’s marquee roster of on-air announcers across both digital and linear platforms. In this role she is responsible for the management of some of the biggest names in sports including Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Wayne Gretzky and Pedro Martinez, across Turner’s sports properties which include the NBA, NHL, NCAA and MLB. On a day-to-day basis August facilitates on-air production, sales, marketing and promotional activities, with a special emphasis on serving as the primary liaison to all sport teams, leagues, agents and celebrities to facilitate contract negotiations and special guest bookings. She also contributes to the development of special projects for the TNT, TBS, NBA TV and Bleacher Report family of platforms such as the official NBA Awards show, The Dunk King and the All-Star All-Style Show. She also currently oversees the organization’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) efforts via the People Advisory Council (PAC), an internal organization which aims to increase diverse hiring and mobility and creating a diversified industry pipeline of professionals. Previously, Tara served as public relations manager for Turner Sports where she aided in directing the strategic development and implementation of visibility efforts for the organization’s programming, talent and executives. Prior to joining Turner Sports, August was an account director for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide where she managed extensive sports marketing partnerships designed to promote social marketing causes via sports personalities and organizations. For more than six years she successfully worked across a multitude of sports leagues to develop award-winning public service announcements, special events and programs for the agency’s public and private clientele. In October 2021 Tara August was named the 2021 DEI Cablefax Champion for her diversity, equity and inclusion efforts; additional recognition includes the Atlanta Business Chronicle 2021 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion “Outstanding Voice” Award and being named to the Cynopsis “2021 Top Woman in Media” and 2020 Cablefax “Most Powerful Women” lists. Tara August is currently a Southeast Trustee for the Boys & Girls Club of America, as well as the VP of public relations on the Sports Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and a member of the American Cancer Society’s Sports Council. She’s also a founding member of the San Diego Network of African-American Professionals (SNAAP!). She earned her master of arts degree in sport management from the University of San Francisco and her bachelor of arts degree in comparative literature, with a minor in communications, from San Diego State University.