Toni Simmons Henson is a distinguished non-profit executive with over 30 years of experience in business development, event marketing, and arts administration. She is a published poet, a number-one best-selling author, a public speaker, and an award-winning entrepreneur dedicated to fostering creativity and organizational excellence. Notably, Henson became the first African-American executive director of the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), the largest theatre conference in the U.S., where she led a significant organizational transformation, turning a projected deficit into a six-figure surplus. Additionally, her accomplishments include streamlining processes, restructuring workflows, developing new job roles, negotiating vendor contracts to optimize cost/benefits, and enhancing sponsor relationships with major companies like Disney Entertainment and Dollywood. During her tenure, she managed SETC's conventions featuring over 300 speakers, 275 breakout sessions, five theatre festivals, and two mid-year mini-conferences. In 2011, Henson founded Micah 6-8 Media, which produces the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival (ABTF). Since its establishment, the ABTF has offered vital production opportunities for over 160 playwrights and a performance platform for over 3,200 artists for tens of thousands of patrons. The ABTF has notably, been recognized as one of five “top theatre festivals to visit around the world.”In 2021, she and her husband established ABTF Travels, leading over 90 artists and enthusiasts to connect with their African ancestry. During their travels, they've inspired philanthropic initiatives toward constructing an art center for a middle school in Elmina, Ghana. Henson earned her MPA in non-profit management from NYU and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University, along with executive certificates in non-profit management and women in leadership. As an artist, her poetry has taken her to stages across the globe. Married for 35 years, she and her husband are proud parents of four adult children.

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