Aspiring and Inspiring Leaders

Being named a Truman Scholar finalist affirms for Liv Counsel that the work they’ve committed their life to—rooted in community, care and justice—matters.

Counsel, a transfer student at the College of Nursing, joins Naho Umitani, a double major in economics and public affairs, as among this year’s Truman Scholar finalists. Later this month Counsel and Umitani will interview with the Harry S. Truman Foundation’s Regional Review Panels and soon after will find out if they are the latest students from SU to receive the prestigious scholarship.

The Truman Foundation identifies aspiring leaders who are college juniors and demonstrate a commitment to careers in public service.

“The Truman Scholarship uplifts those committed to public service and I’m honored to be part of a community that recognizes the depth and breadth of that work,” says Counsel. “… I look forward to continuing to weave together law, health and policy in ways that honor both technical expertise and the wisdom of lived experience.”

Over the years Seattle University has built a deep bench of Truman Scholars, with 11—the most recent being 2019 graduate Kathleen “Kate” Hannick—and has been recognized by the Truman Foundation as a “top producer” of scholars.

For Umitani, she is both honored and “ecstatic” to be representing both Seattle University and her home state of Hawaii in the regional panel.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected as a finalist for the Truman Scholarship,” she says. “This recognition is only possible thanks to my incredible advisors, professors and mentors here at Seattle University.”

Like Umitani, Counsel says being named a finalist is an incredible honor and one that they are grateful for—“I’m especially grateful to my mentors, recommenders and the Seattle University community for their support in this journey”—particularly because of what the Truman Scholarship represents. And the work they do in the public service space is especially meaningful and relevant to the challenges and opportunities of the world today.

Says Counsel, “I approach public service through an intersectional lens, recognizing how reproductive justice, disability justice and racial justice are inextricably linked. Real change happens at these intersections, where policy meets lived experience and where mutual aid and advocacy fill the gaps left by institutions.”