A graduate from the School for the Talented and Gifted has been named a 2021 Truman Scholar, the premiere graduate scholarship for aspiring public service leaders in the United States.
Tatyana Brown is one of 62 exceptional college students from 51 U.S. colleges and universities selected as 2021 Truman Scholars.
Truman Scholars demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence. Each Truman Scholar receives funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling, and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government.
The 62 new Truman Scholars were selected from 845 candidates nominated by 328 colleges and universities – a record number of applicants. They were recommended by seventeen independent selection panels based on the finalists’ academic success and leadership accomplishments, as well as their likelihood of becoming public service leaders. Regional selection panels met virtually and included distinguished civic leaders, elected officials, university presidents, federal judges, and past Truman Scholarship winners.
“The 2021 Truman Scholars reflect our country’s sustained commitment to the future of public service,” said Terry Babcock-Lumish, the Foundation’s Executive Secretary and a 1996 Truman Scholar from Pennsylvania. “This past year presented seemingly insurmountable challenges. Now is precisely the time to reinvest in diverse public servants who reflect America’s resourcefulness, resilience, and leadership.”
Since graduating from TAG, Brown has gone on to do amazing things. Read her bio provided by the Truman Scholarship Foundation.
“Tatyana is a proud African American and Afro-Puerto Rican raised in the American South. After several years of community organizing within Black and Latinx communities, she moved to the United Arab Emirates to attend NYU Abu Dhabi.
As a social research and public policy major with a concentration in Africana studies, she has traveled to six continents researching the compounding systemic injustices faced by Black women and gender-marginalized people everywhere. In Abu Dhabi, she co-founded and directs AZIZA, an organization that builds community among Black women from over 30 countries. She also advocates for an NYU-wide Black feminist curriculum, the creation of a Black Student Association, and several projects to address institutionalized anti-Blackness in policies, data, health, and hiring at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Tatyana intends to pursue an MA in Africana studies and an MSW to further explore the crossroads of global Black feminisms, abolition, and mutual aid, and hopes to create or expand a global network of mutual aid projects supporting Black women and gender marginalized people as harmful systems are abolished.
Beyond her work, she finds joy in making pottery and performing acoustic soul music.”
