As president of the Schultz Family Foundation and head of philanthropy at Emes Project LLC, Tyra partners with Howard and Sheri Schultz to accelerate the family’s work to address inequality by unlocking greater opportunities for individuals and communities in America facing obstacles to economic and social mobility. 

Prior to her current roles, Tyra served as president and chief operating officer of New America, where she partnered with the Board and CEO to transform the organization into a new kind of think tank committed to exploring new and more effective ways of solving public problems. 

Tyra served in the Obama administration as deputy chief of staff for the US secretary of education and then chief of staff for the US deputy secretary of education. In these roles, she helped shape policies and programs impacting education from early learning to college. She led complex interagency and cross-departmental teams that took several Administration priorities from vision to strategy and implementation. Tyra was recognized as a key problem-solving partner to the Department’s senior leadership, helping them to overcome bureaucracy and accelerate their work and the agency’s priorities. 

Prior to joining the Department of Education, Tyra launched entrepreneurial efforts to develop and support leaders in education as the founder of the Greater New Orleans Region of New Leaders. In this role, she developed and successfully executed a strategy to drive academic gains in schools led by New Leaders principals in post-Katrina New Orleans. Prior to New Leaders, Tyra served as budget director for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), overseeing the $5 billion budget of the third largest school district in the country. As a member of the Broad Residency in Urban Education, Tyra led efforts that addressed overcrowding and increased the quality of principal candidates within CPS. 

Tyra began her career in the private sector, with roles at Kraft Foods Corporate and McKinsey & Company. She was co-valedictorian and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Howard University and has a master’s in business from Stanford University. She serves on the board of directors of Howard University, Fidelity Charitable, and Jobs for the Future(JFF).