About the Author – Theresa Simonson Allen
Brooklyn born, Long Island raised, Terri Allen, formally Theresa Ford Simonson, is a Teacher, Inspirational Speaker, Author, Poet, Genealogist, TV Host, Decorator, Event Planner, and Consultant. Terri founded and serves as Dean Emeritus for the Long Island Christian Bible Institute, serves as Vice President of Thelemaque Associates, a talent management company for African American classical musicians, and has hosted a television show, “The Terri Allen Show“ . She is the founder and serves on the Board of Directors of a non-profit corporation, C.A.A.P.A. – Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, who provide funds to aspiring African American classical musicians and other students in the arts.
Terri is also the founder of the Feed My Sheep Ministries in Long Island, New York, and conducts How to Start a Bible Institute in Your Church Workshops, which provides training for church leaders and teachers. She wrote a book of the same title, which is available to assist churches and ministries desirous of starting a Bible Institute in their church. Terri has also served as the President of The Legacy Tour, a Washington, DC-based tour company specializing in the history of DC from a Black perspective.
An avid art collector, Terri has authored the following publications; Links, Linage, Legacy, and Love, How To Start a Bible Institute in Your Church, two poetry collectives, Share My World and Pieces of a Dream, and co-authored the award-winning Pearls of Wisdom from Three Generations with her mother and daughter. She serves as the Director of the Pearls of Wisdom From Three Generations Ministries, alongside her mother retired Registered Nurse, Celia Deas Ford and daughter, Pamela Simonson Ferguson, Opera Soprano.
Terri has garnered many recognition and awards from esteemed organizations including, but not limited to the NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Zeta Phi Beta, Inc., Hannah Keith Foundation, Lions Club, Memorial Presbyterian Church, WPGC-FM, Newsday, Metropolitan Baptist Church Women’s Auxillary, and many others.
Terri is the Founder and Director of the MNCPPC’s (Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Harmony Hallers, an active adult community for residents of the Southern Maryland area, as well as HHOPE (Harmony Hallers Outreach Program Effort), an ancillary non-profit organization, which provides resources and services to those in need in the community and the world.
Terri attended and pursued degrees at Pace Law School, SUNY @ Stony Brook University, and Bethel Bible College. While living in Long Island, as a divorced parent, Terri raised two children, Victor Simonson and Pamela Simonson Ferguson and three African children, Rodney Adu, Felix Adu and Jaclyn Adu in her home.
She currently lives with her husband and business partnerof 14 years, Dale Allen. The couple live in suburban Washington, DC in Fort Washington, Maryland. They love to travel, entertain, and study the Bible.