Raise DC Leadership Council

Herbert R. (Herb) Tillery is the Executive Director of the College Success Foundation – District of Columbia, a nonprofit that provides college scholarships, mentoring, academic enrichment, and support services to underserved students, 7th grade through college completion. He also serves as co-chair of Raise DC.

Tillery served in the military for more than 26 years and retired with the rank of Colonel, U.S. Army. He has held various senior executive leadership positions, including as the Deputy Mayor for Operations, Government of the District of Columbia; Chief of Staff, DCPS; Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Personnel Support, Families and Education; and an Inspector General for the Army. 

Tillery’s community service includes memberships on the boards of the National College Access Network, Greater Washington Urban League, Washington DC Police Foundation, The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, and George Washington University’s School of Public Policy & Public Administration. He is also a member of Leadership Greater Washington, the DC Chamber of Commerce, and the North Carolina A&T State University ROTC Hall of Fame. He is also a Life Member of the ROCKS, Inc. and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Born in North Carolina and raised in Washington, DC, Tillery graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Carolina A&T State University and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1970. While on active duty, he earned a master’s in public administration degree from Jacksonville State University.