I am a graduate of Howard University and NYU, wife, mother of four, and serial entrepreneur who found herself in financial ruin after a failed franchised business venture during the economic recession of 2008-10. Despondent and depressed from suffering a six-figure loss, I lay awake at night, reflecting on how this experience had impacted my family. I'd lost everything we'd built the last 22 years including our savings, investments, and even the children’s college fund.

On a late summer night in August 2011, I cried out to GOD for direction and heard His answer in four words: Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. It was so intuitive that I'd thought the festival already existed. But it did not. 

During that time, people of color in the United States were still suffering politically and socially. The election of the nation's first Black president resulted in a backlash that culminated in an increasingly divided nation. The public image of Black men perpetuated by the media was waging war against the community psyche that was literally killing the Black community on all fronts. Then it happened, on February 26, 2012; Trayvon Martin was assassinated. The widespread explosion of emotions hadn't been experienced since the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968, set in motion a fury of resistance. It also came with a compelling and desperate urge to do something. 

It was clear that the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival needed a mandate, purpose, and a reason to be sustainable.  I understood that the richness of our heritage and historical legacy had been replaced by a myth. These myths criminalized and dehumanized the very existence of Americans of African descent. I knew the journey across the Atlantic was filled with stories that needed to be told to shatter those myths. Moreover, people of color needed love, nurturing, and healing. I also knew that  to happen within the community through the power of the arts. The Atlanta Black Theatre Festival would soon become that important platform.  

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Toni Simmons Henson is a distinguished non-profit executive with over 30 years of experience in business development, event marketing, and art 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. 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. She managed SETC's conventions featuring over 300 speakers, 275 breakout sessions, five theatre festivals, and two mid-year mini-conferences during her tenure. 

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 to construct 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.

Awards and Recognitions

Henson was honored by the National Council of Negro Women Greater Atlanta Section to recognize her contributions to the theatre community. She is the recipient of the 2019 "Jewel of the Mountain Award for Arts and Letters" from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, SM-LAC. She has also received numerous awards for distinguished achievements in business, including feature stories in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), Entrepreneur Magazine, a cover story in the Princeton Packet Weekend Magazine, and Ghana's popular CMonline.com. 

In 2014, Micah 6-8 Media, LLC was named the first runner-up, Emerging Business of the Year, by the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce. This distinction was for ABTF’s "significant contributions to economic development and community impact in DeKalb County".

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Wanda Simmons, my sister, had also recently suffered a set-back She'd been laid-off from the Georgia state government. I proposed that she move in so we could pool our family resources, and help build this vision. It was the perfect storm. 

Wanda had experience as a festival organizer during the 1990s with the National Council of Negro Women's Black Family Reunions under the director of the legendary Dr. Dorothy Height. I was a serial entrepreneur with years of marketing and business expertise.

We both pooled our talents and skills and in October 2012, the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival (ABTF) was launched. This inaugural year set the bar high with attendance at over 2,500. Theatre lovers from all over the country descended on Atlanta and over 300 artists presented 40 plays in four days on three stages at the 14th Street Playhouse. Additionally, 240 rooms were booked at the nearby Loews Hotel in midtown Atlanta. 

But unfortunately, all was not a success. When the ticket proceeds were tallied, expenses exceeded revenues by thousands of dollars. We were then faced with a dilemma. We didn't have enough to pay the performers. This was not a part of the vision, but we were determined to do anything to make things right. After witnessing how hard we worked, our Mother Marian Simmons, with faith in our vision, stepped up to the plate to loan us the money to cover the outstanding balances. I then resorted to driving Uber early mornings to repay the debt to my mother and help with family expenses.

Although times were tough, we couldn't let this vision dissipate. Wanda and I hit reset, took a deep dive analysis, and geared up for year two. We worked for 12-14 hours a day planning the next festival. In the meantime, Anja Williams, a marketing administrator at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center (PSPAC) encouraged us to bring the festival to historic Decatur. Again, the timing was perfectly divine. The 14th Street Playhouse would soon thereafter be purchased by a private college a few months later. 

The PSPAC turned out to be a true GOD send with 42,000 square feet of state-of-art performance space, free parking, free of midtown traffic, classrooms, a gallery, and a catering kitchen. The venue made way for expanding the festival programming to include hosting international and local vendors, an art exhibit, classes, a cafe-restaurant, and a bar. This created the opportunity for additional streams of revenue separate from the ticket fees paid directly to the artists. In addition to a steady stream of donations from art enthusiasts, this business model has sustained the festival to this day.

UPDATE:

Now in its 11th year, the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival has provided a platform for over 145 playwrights to self-produce their original works in Atlanta. Some playwrights are local but many have traveled from afar representing 27 states and five countries. The ABTF has also provided performance opportunities for over 3,000 artists entertaining thousands of theatre enthusiasts. 

Wanda decided to go back to school and earn her Bachelor's degree. She currently works with children in the human services industry and lives in south Atlanta. She still serves as Volunteer Coordinator for the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. 

Our two oldest children graduated with full scholarships from the US Naval Academy and Spelman College and one graduated with a Master of Architecture from Hampton University, maintaining a 3.3 GPA on a 50% scholarship. My husband and I just celebrated 32 years of marriage. Antonio currently serves on the Advisory Board.

To date, the festival operates 100% debt-free. More importantly, we're telling our stories. 

TO GOD, WE GIVE THE GLORY!