Toni Simmons Henson
Toni Simmons Henson
Founder and Producing Director of the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival (ABTF), Toni Simmons Henson has made a profound impact not only on her community but also on the arts worldwide. Originally from New Jersey, Henson moved to Atlanta and started Micah 6-8 Media, LLC in 2007. Together with her sister, Wanda Simmons, she co-founded the ABTF in 2012. The annual, internationally renowned event attracts thousands of theatre enthusiasts from across the world and has provided a platform for more than 145 self-producing African-American playwrights and over 3,000 artists. The ABTF’s mission is to support and expand opportunities for multi-disciplinary artists of color to develop, preserve, and present their works for and about the pan-African experience in their own authentic voice.
At the helm of the ABTF is Henson, who has successfully guided and grown the festival for more than a decade. Wife to Antonio and mother of four, Henson also is a spoken word poet, public speaker, entrepreneur, and the best-selling author of “Let It Go: Queens Gotta $#!+, Too!: Mastering the Art of Reclaiming Your Queendom (A Poetic Memoir by Toni X).” In addition to the ABTF, Micah 6-8 Media produces the Black Family Table Talk Podcast/Blog, Black Theatre TV, and ABTF Travels, which specializes in arts and cultural experiences. Henson has performed and presented in New York, Paris, and Ghana. She will debut her new full-length solo show in Los Angeles in February 2022.
Recently, the AADO Network met up with Henson to learn more about her professional journey, with a particular focus on her fundraising experiences.
For Henson, entering into the fundraising world was uncomfortable. A graduate of New York University’s Master of Public Administration in Non-profit Management program, she was used to approaching her entrepreneurial endeavors with a business plan in hand. When Henson realized that ticket sales were not going to produce enough revenue, she knew her approach needed to be different. Henson explained, “I was taught and trained to create a business model that was profitable, and if it was not profitable, then it was not a proven concept. I fought with my training and then my pride for a long time to realize that… I realized how significant the arts and culture and everything else plays into everyday life.”
Henson described how that was the moment when she realized the importance of philanthropic support for arts organizations. She said, “I started immersing myself in the world of philanthropy—going to fundraising events, talking to more people, and doing online trainings.”
When it comes to fundraising, Henson is most proud of the success her organization has had with individual donors. She described how when she and Wanda began talking about establishing the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, they knew it was going to be a grassroots effort. She explained, “We didn't know anybody. We didn't have any wealthy friends. We weren't in those circles. And we said, ‘Let's build this thing one patron at a time.’ And that's what we focused on. And if we can get them to come, then we can get them to love it, then we can get them to feel at home, then we can get them to feel as though it's worthy, and then we can get them to give.”
Henson added, “That has been our formula. It's a long, painstaking formula, but it is what I'm most proud of, our individual donors. It’s pure-at-heart giving.”
At a virtual event in 2020, her organization raised a record amount of money from individual donors. Henson shared how excited she was that the story they were conveying was touching hearts. She knew then there were a lot of people who were interested in the “cause to take back our narrative.”
Henson describes how flashpoints in American history—the assassinations of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Sandra Bland, in addition to thousands of injustices—have impacted and shaped the work she does. She said, “Those are the sorts of flashpoints in my mind that create a collective community of trauma. I feel as though it is my mission and my mandate to bring healing to a space and a place where people can say, ‘I’m Black. I’m okay. There’s nothing wrong with me. I have my faults, but I’m human like everybody else.’”
That mission and mandate inspired Henson to begin to boldly start applying for grants and transitioning the organization’s infrastructure to be more aligned with funders’ interests and guidelines.
In her spare time, Henson has traveled the world. Her interest in travel has taken her to 23 countries. Her latest goal is to visit five countries in five years.
When asked about her professional legacy, Henson said she wants to be remembered as someone who “closed the gap across the diaspora, reconnected, or helped to reconnect the people from America with the people of Africa.”
As she continues to realize her goals and close the gap, we thank Toni Simmons Henson for her incredible vision and work and for sharing her inspiring and extraordinary story with the AADO Network.