Meet the Leader: 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.
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Meet the Leader: Juan A. McGruder
Juan A. McGruder, Ph.D., CFRE
Senior Vice President & Chief Development Officer
Junior Achievement of Georgia
Written by Keatley Scroggins
Juan McGruder appears to be the type of person who should be walking the halls of a white-shoe law firm or Atlanta City Hall. He is gregarious, clever, and doesn’t know a stranger, qualities that are befitting for a lawyer, politician, and in his case, a professional fundraiser.
Juan’s story starts with a humble beginning in academia. With an undergraduate degree from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) in Atlanta, two masters degrees, and a PhD in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University, it’s his tenacity, resilience, and commitment to giving back that ultimately carried him from being denied admission to college as a senior in high school to his current position as Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Junior Achievement of Georgia.
As a high school student, Juan was solidly in the bottom half of his class, so it was no surprise that he was not admitted to Clark College on his first application. However, with most of his friends successfully completing their first semester of college, Juan’s mother saw his sadness and suggested he write a letter to tell the school how he felt. With neither mother nor son familiar with application procedures, they didn’t have the terminology to call it a letter of appeal. But Juan listened to his mother, and wrote to Clark College, promising that if he was accepted, he would be a good student and an even better alumnus.