Tanja Hester

CV

TANJA HESTER

Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Lives and works in Reno-Tahoe region

HONORS, selected
2025 Nevada Arts Council “Spotlight” award, sponsored booth at RTIA Show 2025
2025 Jackson’s Art Prize, long listed
2025 AcrylicWorks “Best of Acrylic” finalist, featured in magazine
2025 Emerging Artists mentorship program awardee, Artists Co-Op Gallery of Reno
2025 Nevada statewide miniatures show, second place 
2024 Reno Tahoe Art Awards, Artist of the Year, Watercolor
2024 Reno Tahoe Art Awards, finalist for Artist of the Year, Mixed Media 2D
2024 Hallberg Award, Sierra College (Ridley Gallery exhibition and scholarship)
2024 Best in Show, Sierra Watercolor Society annual juried exhibition
2024 Patrons Award, Sierra College annual juried exhibition
2023 Money Magazine Changemaker, named one of 50 people changing the global financial system
2023 Civil Society Fellowship finalist, Aspen Institute and Anti-Defamation League
2022 Nautilus Awards, gold medal, social justice & social change book (Wallet Activism)
2022 American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) Awards, best service book (Wallet Activism)
1997-2001 University of California, Berkeley, Regents’ Scholarship (full academic scholarship)
1996 Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, summer program full scholarship

EDUCATION
2022-2025 Supplemental studio art coursework, various community colleges
2021-2024 Certificate of Achievement in German, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, Calif.
1997-2001 Bachelor of Arts in English, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif.
1996 Summer program in photography, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, Wis.

EXHIBITIONS
2026 Artists Co-Op of Reno, Emerging Artists show, Reno, Nev.
2026 Reno City Hall, Metro Gallery, group show, Reno, Nev.
2025 Reno-Tahoe International Art Show, exhibition sponsored by Nevada Arts Council, Reno, Nev.
2025 Holland Project, Desert Biennial Project “Fuse,” Reno, Nev.
2025 Desert Biennial Project, desert outside Las Vegas, Nev.
2025 Nevada Fine Arts, “The Art of Accessibility,” Reno, Nev.
2025 May Museum, Sierra Watercolor Society show, Reno, Nev.
2025 Artists Co-Op of Reno, Statewide miniatures show, Reno, Nev.
2025 Makers’ Paradise, Statewide miniatures show, Reno, Nev.
2024 Ridley Gallery, Sierra College, Hallberg Merit Exhibition – four-person exhibition, Rocklin, Calif.
2024 May Museum, Sierra Watercolor Society annual show, Reno, Nev.
2024 Ridley Gallery, Sierra College, annual juried exhibition, Rocklin, Calif.

PUBLISHED BOOKS AS AUTHOR
2021 Wallet Activism, BenBella Books/Penguin Random House, Dallas, Tex.
2019 Work Optional, Hachette Books/Hachette Book Group, New York, N.Y.

SHORT PUBLICATIONS AS AUTHOR, selected
2022: Washington Post and Bloomberg, “To Fight Climate Change, Change Your Bank”
2022: MarketWatch, “Responsible investing doesn’t help — but there’s plenty you can do instead”
2021: Washington Post and Bloomberg, “Millennials and Gen Z Are Fed Up with ESG”
2021: MarketWatch, “4 ways to fund your retirement ethically”
2020: MarketWatch, “Why the climate crisis should factor into your financial plan”
2020: FinCon, “Diversity and Anti-Racism Resources from the FinCon Community”

INVITED TALKS, selected
2026 Skewed Realism in Watercolor, Sierra Watercolor Society, Reno, Nev.
2022 “Climate-Focused Investing for Everyone,” FutureProof Festival, Huntington Beach, Calif.
2021 “Wallet Activism,” C-SPAN Book TV, Washington, D.C.
2020 “How to Talk About Topics that Scare You,” FinConX virtual conference, online
2019 “Authenticity and Authority,” FinCon19 conference, Washington, D.C.

EMPLOYMENT
2018-Present Independent Artist and Writer
2017-2022 Freelance columnist for MarketWatch, Bloomberg, et al, New York, N.Y.
2006-2017 Senior Vice President, Vice President and Senior Associate, GMMB (political consultancy), Los Angeles
2005-2006 Senior Marketing Coordinator, CauseForce (cause-based fundraising), Los Angeles
2002-2005 Associate and Assistant, GMMB (political consultancy), Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles
2001-2002 Communications Specialist, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, Washington, D.C.
2000, 2002 Editorial Assistant and Intern, National Public Radio (NPR), Washington, D.C.
2000 Intern, KQED-FM (San Francisco NPR affiliate), San Francisco
1999 Intern, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, San Francisco

LANGUAGES
Nationality: Dual citizen of the USA and Germany, based in USA
Languages: English (native speaker), German (C2)