Tauna Szymanski, JD, MPA (she/her), is the Executive Director and Legal Director of CommunicationFIRST, the only civil rights organization led by and for and dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights and interests of the estimated 5 million people in the United States who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard and understood. Before co-founding CommunicationFIRST in 2019, she spent more than a decade practicing international climate change and renewable energy law. Ms. Szymanski received her JD from Stanford Law School, and an MPA in economics and public policy and MA in Urban Planning from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. She studied international relations and environmental policy as an undergraduate at Carleton College. In addition to DREDF’s Board, she serves on the Board of the Disability Rights Bar Association. Ms. Szymanski grew up mostly outside the United States, is neurodivergent and multiply disabled, currently lives in the Washington DC area, and parents a high school student with multiple disabilities.
