News and Insights

PLS at 10: A Scholar’s reflection on the Presidential Leadership Scholars experience

November 13, 2025

By Niki Marin, Class of 2025 What stays with me as a Presidential Leadership Scholar is the understanding that learning never stops. Leadership requires the discipline to keep listening, questioning, and growing, even when it feels easier to stand still. While the classroom lessons shaped by the legacies of four presidents were powerful, some of the most […]

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Working together to create a more perfect union

March 8, 2024

Presidential Leadership Scholars Module Two recap

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Presidential Leadership Scholar spotlight: Yoon Choi

February 27, 2024

Yoon Choi, CEO of CollegeSpring and 2020 Presidential Leadership Scholar, discusses the importance of standardized testing in helping students build a foundation for future success and how we can begin to address inequalities in our education system.

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Insights from behind the curtain: The genesis of the Presidential Leadership Scholars

February 15, 2024

Almost a decade ago, leaders at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas and the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, were wrestling with the same idea: How could they bring diverse people together in a nonpartisan way to teach them about leadership? Former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, current CEO and President of […]

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The precious gift of PLS

February 13, 2024

2024 Presidential Leadership Scholars Module One recap

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Presidential Leadership Scholar Spotlight: Jared Lyon

February 5, 2024

Jared Lyon, 2018 Presidential Leadership Scholar and President and CEO of Student Veterans of America, discusses his passion for bridging the academic guidance gap for transitioning servicemembers and veterans.

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2024 Class of Presidential Leadership Scholars Announced

January 24, 2024

Ninth annual class comprised of 60 accomplished leaders including servicemembers, educators, physicians, public servants, and corporate professionals; program begins on Jan. 24 in Washington, D.C.

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Presidential Leadership Scholar spotlight: Rachel Korberg

December 20, 2023

In this Presidential Leadership Scholar spotlight, Rachel Korberg, Executive Director at The Families and Workers Fund, discusses her passion for building the future of the climate workforce, the lessons she learned in the Presidential Leadership Scholar program, and ways people can advance the clean energy and infrastructure transition. Please tell us a little bit about […]

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Presidential Leadership Scholar spotlight: Desirre de la Torre

November 30, 2023

Presidential Leadership Scholar Desiree De La Torre, Director of Community Affairs and Population Health Improvement at the Children’s National Hospital, discusses how PLS taught her the importance of building strong collaborations, especially with those from other sectors, to support lasting, positive change. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your personal leadership project […]

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In the news｜‘My patient did not have to die the way she did’

November 28, 2023

2023 Presidential Leadership Scholar Dr. Anahita Dua is a vascular surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. She recently published an op-ed in the New York Times discussing her work advocating for a standard for treating advanced peripheral artery disease. “Medicine needs a standard for treating advanced peripheral artery […]

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In the news｜How renewing a Bush era program for Africa will help us fend off Russia and China, boost national security

November 28, 2023

2022 Presidential Leadership Scholar Dr. David Bernstein shares in a Fox News opinion piece the impact of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on health, democracy, and human rights, urging Congress to act to protect this bipartisan program. “PEPFAR, a bipartisan initiative that began in 2003 under the George W. Bush administration, is […]

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