Telly Tucker joined IALR as the first President on May 31, 2022. In this role, he provides high-level, strategic leadership as IALR continues its mission to catalyze regional economic transformation. As the former Director of Arlington Economic Development, he led a team that successfully landed companies like Boeing’s Global Headquarters, and Microsoft while continuing to build on the momentum of Amazon HQ2. Prior to that role, Tucker served five years as the Director of Economic Development for the City of Danville, where he experienced much success helping to revive the Southern Virginia economy with major economic development announcements like AeroFarms and Morgan Olson. Before holding other various economic development and leadership roles, Tucker started out working as an educator for Lynchburg City Schools.
Tucker has held various board appointments over the years including with the Leadership Center for Excellence Board of Regents, George Mason University President’s Innovation Advisory Council and more. He has received the prestigious Certified Economic Development (CEcD) designation granted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in Washington, D.C., and has been named to the Virginia 500 most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics and education for two consecutive years. Tucker is an accomplished pianist, a Lynchburg native and obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration in international business and Spanish from James Madison University.
