Barbara Jumper
Chair
Barbara Jumper is the Chief Business Officer for the DC Public Library. Previously, she served as Senior Financial Management Specialist at the Department of Transportation where she provided financial oversight and technical assistance to grant managers and grant administrators. Prior to that, Ms. Jumper was the Vice President For Real Estate, Facilities Management and Public Safety (2008-2015) and Chief Financial Officer (2007-2008) at the University of the District of Columbia. Ms. Jumper holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from St. Augustine’s University and a Master of Arts Degree from Trinity Washington University. She has participated in the Executive Leadership Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Financial Leadership Institute at the Meyer Foundation, and Leadership Greater Washington.
Madi Ford
Vice Chair
Madi Ford manages acquisitions, deal structuring, development, risk mitigation, joint ventures, and equity and debt finance from a legal perspective for Audeo Partners. Ms. Ford has a decade of legal experience in real estate, including the entitlement, development, acquisition, disposition, and financing of commercial real estate, in addition to general corporate governance. She advises on risk mitigation and complex cross-functional matters relevant to the ownership, asset management, and development of multi-family rental housing.
Previously, Ms. Ford served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel at MidCity, where she provided guidance on legal issues to corporate staff and led administrative operations. Prior to that, Ms. Ford served as director of legal affairs and business development at Edgewood Management Corporation and served as a corporate associate at Bingham McCutchen LLP. Ms. Ford is a graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law, where she was symposium editor for the Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law. She received her B.S. in Economics and Public Policy and the Law from Trinity College. Ms. Ford is actively engaged in philanthropic efforts surrounding access to education, economic empowerment and affordable housing. Madi also serves on the Board of Directors Habitat for Humanity, D.C., The Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation, and the Holton-Arms School Alumnae Board. She serves on the Leadership Council for the District of Columbia and the Greater Washington Community Foundation Partnership to End Homelessness. She has previously served on the boards of directors for two private companies and the Community Services Foundation.
She joined the board in 2018.
Tamara Wilds Lawson
Secretary
Most recently, Dr. Tamara Wilds Lawson was the Executive Director, Chief Community Impact and Inclusion Officer for Washington Nationals Philanthropies. In this role, Tamara drove the development of multi-faceted community impact and grant-making strategies for the Washington, D.C. region, paying particular attention to under-resourced neighborhoods. Before joining the Washington Philanthropies leadership team in 2018, she was the Director of the Posse Foundation’s Washington, DC office for seven years. Posse D.C. identifies and trains incredible young leaders from area public high schools and sends them in “posses” of 10 to top colleges and universities. Prior to leading Posse D.C., Tamara was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Graduate School at the University of Maryland, College Park and taught in the Department of American Studies for three years where she was recognized for her excellent work in the classroom.
In addition to her diverse professional portfolio in higher education, Tamara gained national political organizing experience as Director of African American Outreach for the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 election cycle. Currently, she serves on the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Executive Committee. Tamara received her B.A. from Occidental College and Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.
A proud, native Washingtonian, Tamara lives in Southeast Washington, D.C. with her family.
She joined the Board in 2019.