Amy Dawson Taggart
National Director

Saif Khan
Deputy National Director & Senior Advisor

Tracy Rausch
Associate

Mission: Readiness
1212 New York Avenue NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 464-5224

Amy Dawson Taggart is a long-time advocate for proven investments that get young people the right start in life. In the late 1980’s she worked for a tutoring and mentoring program for low-income, Spanish-speaking youth in East Palo Alto, CA at a time when that community was the murder capital of the country, per capita.

Direct experience with at-risk youth led Amy to help found in 1995 the anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Former Attorney General Elliott Richardson was the organization’s first board chair, and what started with a handful of police chiefs has now grown to represent over 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, and victims of violence advocating for the programs proven to get kids the right start so they never turn to a life of crime. Amy remains part of that leadership team and is responsible for overseeing the organization’s Finances, Administration, and Human Resources as well as consulting on strategy and member relations.

In November of 2008, Amy launched Mission: Readiness, Military Leaders for Kids for retired generals, admirals, and former cabinet officials concerned about preparing the upcoming generation to uphold America’s national security and economic prosperity.

Amy graduated with honors from the University of California at Irvine with a degree in political science.

Saif Khan serves as Deputy Director and Senior Advisor to Mission: Readiness. Saif is an Iraq War veteran, having served as a Combat Engineer in Mosul, Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 - 2005. He joined the military as a member of the Virginia Army National Guard in 2000. He served in the Guard for eight years and was a part of the mobilizing force for numerous state and national emergencies.

Since returning from Iraq, he has been a strong advocate for veteran’s rights and benefits. He has worked with senior military leaders and legislators to identify problems returning veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan face and how to fix them. As an advocate for youth, he has worked to motivate kids and young adults to get involved in the political process by registering to vote and stand up for what they believe in.

As a veteran, Saif strongly believes investment in kids now will be critical to ensure America’s future mission readiness. Saif graduated with a degree in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Tracy Rausch is a Minnesota native who has joined Mission: Readiness as an Associate.

Prior to joining our staff, Tracy has worked with several universities in various research and administration positions. Tracy also has worked in public health, specifically cancer care education and promotion, planning conferences around the country to promote basic standards of care in cancer centers throughout the country.

Tracy's mother is a pre-K and Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) educator in Minnesota and her fiancée is a Major in the United States Army. Tracy has been a strong advocate for research-based preventative investments, in both health care and education.

Tracy graduated from DePaul University with a BA in Sociology and is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC.