Cara Tan is a Research Assistant at the California Policy Lab. At CPL, she works in the education, health, and social safety net policy areas. She believes in the importance of accessible and reliable data as a key tool for evaluating existing issues and informing policymaking.

Prior to joining CPL, she worked on projects covering a range of topics including lung cancer screening disparities in a multiethnic cohort and the impact of a conditional cash transfer program on intergenerational mobility in the Philippines. While initially interested in health policy, her experiences working with students has spurred an interest in education policy as well. Cara is fascinated by the interconnectedness of systems, especially regarding the inadvertent impacts of decisions.

Cara holds a BA in Economics and Chinese from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Outside of work, she enjoys going on walks, playing word and logic games, and trying her hand at various crafts.