Staff

202.395.3545
TBL@truman.gov

In 2019, Terry Babcock-Lumish, a 1996 Truman Scholar from Pennsylvania, was named the sixth – and first female – Executive Secretary of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, the United States’ living memorial to the thirty-third president and the presidential monument to public service.  

Before joining the Truman Foundation, Dr. Babcock-Lumish founded and led Islay for fifteen years, providing strategic guidance for philanthropic foundations and other mission-driven organizations across six continents. Representative clients include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Brooks World Poverty Institute, Clinton Global Initiative, His Royal Highness Prince Feisal Al Hussein’s Generations for Peace, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.  

Past academic affiliations include the University of Arizona, City University of New York, the University of Delaware’s Biden School, Harvard Law School, the University of Oxford, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she developed West Point's first behavioral economics course and a civilian-military partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. Dr. Babcock-Lumish was the founding Director of Public Policy at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute in the historic New York City home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.  

Dr. Babcock-Lumish served in local, state, and federal government for both Democratic and Republican administrations, and as a researcher for two books by former US Vice President Al Gore. From 1999-2001, she was a Presidential Management Fellow at the Treasury Department and in the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Media publications and appearances include ABC News, the TODAY Show, The Hill, Forbes, National Public Radio, The New York Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post. 

Dr. Babcock-Lumish completed her BS at Carnegie Mellon University and earned an MPA in environmental and technology policy as a Lilly Community Assistance Fellow at Indiana University's O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She read her DPhil in economic geography at the University of Oxford as a Clarendon Scholar and continues today as an Honorary Research Associate with Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment and a Distinguished Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Chatham House, and the Royal Geographical Society, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. 

202.395.7434

tyglesias@truman.gov

Tara Yglesias serves as the Deputy Executive Secretary for the Truman Foundation.  Under the direction of the Executive Secretary, Ms. Yglesias is responsible for the Foundation's Scholar selection process and oversees the processing of applications as well as the Finalist Selection Committee and Regional Review Panels.  She works closely with faculty representatives on recruiting and advising students during the Truman application process.  Ms. Yglesias has served as the Foundation's liaison to the National Association of Fellowship Advisors (NAFA) since 2003 and has held positions on the NAFA Board as both the Foundation Representative and the Publications Co-Chair.

She directs the Truman Scholars Leadership Week, our annual event to welcome new Scholars.  Ms. Yglesias is also responsible for the development and implementation of the Foundation's annual budget as well as other federal reporting requirements.

A 1993 Truman Scholar from Allentown, Pennsylvania, she holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from Syracuse University.  She holds a dual degree in Policy Studies and African-American Studies.  She was selected as a Woodruff Fellow at Emory University School of Law and earned her Juris Doctorate in 1997.  

Before joining the Truman Foundation, Ms. Yglesias worked for the Fulton County Office of the Public Defender in Atlanta, Georgia.  She began in the Jail Division and Juvenile Court.  After gaining a taste and reputation for trial work, she was selected for the Felony Trial Division.  She represented clients in a variety of criminal matters - from minor ordnance violations to major violent felonies.

twade@truman.gov

Tonji Wade is the Program Officer, Network Administrator and Webmaster. She also organizes the Foundation's Finalist Selection Committee and manages the Scholar selection process. Ms. Wade has a B.S. in Information Systems and a M.S. in Cybersecurity.

605.868.1728
swalker@truman.gov

Sydney is a 2022 Truman Scholar from South Dakota who joined the Truman Foundation as a Resident Scholar in December 2023. Before this, she worked as a Nonprofit Programs Intern at Spur Local, where she supported small to medium-sized nonprofits in the DMV area to enhance their capabilities and connect with the DC community.

Sydney graduated egregia cum laude from the College of Saint Benedict in May of 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. As a Bonner Leader at CSB, she spent four years working with TRIO Upward Bound, a tutoring and mentorship program for low-income and first-generation high school students on a path toward higher education. While a student, Sydney completed a summer internship with the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Washington, DC, as a Fleischhacker Fellow for Ethical Leadership. She is an inducted member of Phi Beta Kappa, OIKOS Economic Honor Society, and Pi Sigma Alpha. In her free time, Sydney enjoys exploring DC’s farmer’s markets, baking, listening to Taylor Swift, and reading.  

385.227.5851

escott@truman.gov

Before joining the Truman Foundation, Elise served at the Bipartisan Policy Center as a project manager for the Child Welfare Initiative, working to identify and elevate bipartisan approaches to improving outcomes for children and families in the child welfare system. Previously, she interned at the US District Court for the District of Utah and the Utah State Legislature. She has experience volunteering on local and statewide political campaigns, fundraising, and working on the Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism and for the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement.

A 2020 Truman Scholar from the state of Utah, Elise attended the University of Utah and received her Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Communication in 2020.