TM² Executive Search Retained by Lumina Foundation and Southern University to Fill Senior Roles
April 10, 2026 – TM² Executive Search (TM²),the executive search firm of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), was recently awarded a grant from Lumina Foundation to launch a board governance excellence initiative. “HBCUs have long deserved this level of targeted investment in their governance capacity,” said Dr. Harry L. Williams, president and CEO of TMCF. “TM²’s work will generate the kind of evidence-based intelligence that empowers boards to lead with clarity and confidence. TMCF is proud to support this effort.”
The grant will fund an 18-month initiative that will comprise of comprehensive, evidence-based governance assessments at a cohort of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), producing customized recommendations for each institution and a sector-wide brief to inform broader practice across the HBCU ecosystem.
HBCU leaders have historically navigated governance environments with fewer resources and less structural support than their counterparts. This initiative is designed to equip HBCU boards with the institution-specific intelligence and tools they need to create conditions where their leaders and the students they serve can thrive.
“This grant allows us to do the diagnostic work the field has long needed,” said Dr. Amanda Washington Lockett, president of TM². “When HBCU boards have real, institution-specific data and the right support, they are positioned to make decisions that strengthen their institutions for the long term. We are grateful to Lumina Foundation for investing in that vision.”
The initiative will be led by nationally recognized HBCU governance scholars Dr. Felecia Commodore and Dr. Toya Barnes-Teamer, alongside TM²’s core leadership team. The work is made possible through the support of Lumina Foundation, whose Goal 2040 commitment to expanding credential attainment for all Americans underscores the vital role HBCU institutional strength plays in advancing equity in higher education.
Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation based in Indianapolis that focuses on expanding access to and success in education beyond high school. Founded in 2000, the organization works with government, non-profit, and private-sector partners to support system-level changes in higher education, including improving attainment rates, aligning credentials with workforce needs, and increasing equity in access and outcomes.
Southern University Search
TM² was also recently called in by Southern University to lead in its search for a new president. Dr. Lockett explained the long history the two entities shared at the Southern board of supervisors meeting on Friday. Dr. Lockett said her great-great-grandfather, Booker T. Washington, met with Southern University’s first president, Joseph S. Clark, over 100 years ago to discuss the future of the university.
Chancellor of Southern University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Orlando McMeans, is currently serving as interim president after the board split from former president Dennis Shields at the end of 2025. Shields will join the Southern law faculty this fall. The board of supervisors plans to consider final candidates at its May 14 meeting, with hopes of having a new president in place by July 1.
Related: TM² Executive Search Recruits Chief Development Officer for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund
Southern University and A&M College is a public, historically Black land-grant university located in Baton Rouge, LA, and serves as the flagship institution of the Southern University System. Founded in 1880, it offers a broad range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs and is part of the only historically Black university system in the U.S. The university is focused on education, research, and community service, serving a diverse student population while contributing to economic and social development at the state and national levels.
TM² Executive Search Seeking Chief Information Technology Officer for Cheyney University
TM² Executive Search was recently selected by Cheyney University to lead in its search for a chief information technology officer (CITO). Associate principals Jessica Horton and Dr. Will Anyu are leading the assignment. The school is looking for a forward-thinking, mission-driven CITO to lead the office of information technology during a period of strategic transformation. This is the first-ever CITO role at Cheyney University, and the selected leader will have the unique opportunity to define the vision for IT on campus, build the department from the ground up and establish governance structures that will serve the institution for years to come. As a strategic member of the organization, the CITO will serve as a thought partner to senior leadership, shaping a unified vision for the university’s digital future focused on improving student success in a secure manner.
TM² Executive Search specializes in providing exemplary executive talent acquisition consultation for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Predominantly Black Institutions, and other organizations looking to attract highly qualified, motivated, accomplished diverse candidates at all levels of the administration. The firm focuses on filling C-suite leadership positions, including presidents, chancellors and their cabinet-level direct reports, and board directorships.
In 2016, four former black college presidents launched TM² Executive Search. The firm is the brainchild of former black college presidents John Garland (former president of Central State University); Sidney Ribeau (former president of Howard University); Wayne Watson (president emeritus of Chicago State University); and Dorothy Cowser Yancy (president emerita of Johnson C. Smith University & Shaw University).
Dr. Lockett is a dedicated scholar-practitioner with over a decade of experience in higher education and strategy development. Dr. Washington Lockett’s research and practice focus on innovations in higher education, transformative leadership and institutional sustainability. She has served as a strategic advisor to the presidents of two Minority Serving Institutions and most recently served as a Strategist for the Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). In this role, she developed strategic priorities and initiatives that improved the sustainability and institutional outcomes at HBCUs.
Related: TM² Executive Search Seeking CHRO for Fort Valley State University
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
