Gael Tarleton

Gael Frances Donelan Tarleton (January 1, 1959) is an American politician who served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives for the 36th Legislative District from 2013 to 2021. Tarleton was a candidate for Secretary of State of Washington in 2020, losing to incumbent Republican Kim Wyman.

Early life and education

Gael Tarleton (née Donelan) was born on January 1, 1959, in Beverly, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of John J. "Jack" and Ann-Jean Donelan. She was raised in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, and graduated as class valedictorian and Manchester Scholar from Manchester Jr.-Sr. High School in 1977. Years later, Tarleton organized a group of her high school classmates and their parents to establish the Timothy C. Averill Debate Education Fund in honor of her debate coach and English teacher, Tim Averill, when he retired.

She attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where she studied Russian language and earned a Bachelor of Science degree. She graduated in 1981, cum laude, and earned an additional honors certificate in international business diplomacy and membership in Phi Alpha Theta. In 1983, she earned a Master's degree in government and national security studies from Georgetown.

Career

During college, she worked in the office of a member of the United States House of Representatives and at the United States Department of the Treasury in the National Security Affairs office.

Defense Intelligence Agency

Following her graduation from Georgetown University, Tarleton joined the Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C., where she worked as a specialist in Soviet strategic issues for nine years. From September 1983 to August 1984, the Defense Intelligence Agency granted her a one-year leave of absence to accompany her husband during his one-year assignment to the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. During that year, she worked part-time as an Adjunct Research Instructor for the Postgraduate School's National Security Affairs Department. In 1984, Tarleton returned to the Defense Intelligence Agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters, where she held various positions supporting defense agencies and the US national intelligence community. In 1989, she was awarded the Director of Central Intelligence's National Intelligence Medal of Achievement.

Science Applications International Corporation

In September 1990, Tarleton and her husband moved to Seattle, Washington, where she worked for 12 years at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), which at the time was a private, employee-owned science and technology company. She developed and led the organization's business in Russia, serving as Director of SAIC Global Technology, and vice president and manager of international business, building collaborative science and technology partnerships between US and Russian scientists and engineers. Tarleton became the first American woman to address a joint session of the Russian Parliament in 1996.

National Bureau of Asian Research

In August 2002, Tarleton began serving as the Director of Eurasian Policy Studies at the National Bureau of Asian Research in Seattle.

University of Washington

In 2004, she was hired as the first Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for the University of Washington's College of Arts and Sciences. During her employment with the University of Washington, she helped establish the endowed Herbert J. Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies and the Institute for National Security Education and Research. She also served as a Special Assistant in the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs; Manager of Partnerships for the Pacific Rim Visualization and Analytics Center in the College of Engineering; and Strategic Advisor for the Information School's Institute for National Security Education and Research. She helped raise funding for research and education on behalf of faculty and students. Tarleton resigned from the UW when she was elected to the State House of Representatives in 2012.

Port of Seattle

In 2007, Tarleton challenged a two-term incumbent and won her first four-year term as a Commissioner at the Port of Seattle, a King County-wide elected office for a part-time position overseeing the largest port in the Pacific Northwest with an annual budget nearing $1 billion. The five-member commission employs a port executive to manage Sea-Tac International Airport, Fishermen's Terminal, Shilshole Bay Marina, cruise and grain terminals, and four shipping container terminals in Elliott Bay. Re-elected in 2011, Tarleton held various leadership positions, including Chair of the Commission Audit Committee and President of the commission. During her tenure, the commission introduced numerous reforms to expand commission and staff accountability and transparency; invested in clean air programs; adopted an innovative aviation clean fuels strategy; and spent tens of million of dollars to begin early-action clean-up of the Lower Duwamish River