Terri Henry

In January 2019, Ms. Terri Henry began work in the position of TERO Director. She oversees the daily operations and administration, and, offers strategic guidance in TERO’s mission to implement the Tribe’s employment preference laws on tribal lands including program development. Terri is from the Paint Town Community and brings 25 years of experience in Cherokee Tribal government and national leadership to her position with TERO. Notably, her governance work experience includes three terms (or six years) on the Cherokee Tribal Council – serving one term as the first Chairwoman – and an appointment as the tribe’s first Secretary of State. Ms. Henry is a co-founder of the National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women, where she led the effort to make needed structural changes in federal law through the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the Violence Against Women Act of 2000, 2005 and 2013. Terri worked to bring awareness to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and lobbying for the declaration of the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. Ms. Henry was appointed as an Independent Expert for North America on the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 2017-2019. She also has a background in small business and nonprofit work. Terri earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law.