Dr. Terry Whitt Bailey is admired as a community activist, arts administrator and advocate for educational equity. Terry currently serves as first Vice President and Chief Program Officer at the Center for Leadership Development, a nonprofit in Central Indiana that fosters the advancement of minority youth by providing experiences that encourage personal development and educational attainment.
Before her assignment at CLD, Terry served as Director of Community Development for the City of Muncie, IN (population 70,000), overseeing a $7.5 million in government grants.
Prior to her appointment, Terry had a successful career as an arts administrator, serving as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Historic Madame Walker Theatre Center in Indianapolis and Cornerstone Center for the Arts in Muncie (IN). In both organizations, she was instrumental in creating arts and community partnerships, increasing grants and donations, and developing arts education opportunities for children and youth.
Terry previously held administrative positions with Ball State University, most notably as Chief of Staff for the Office of the President. Terry is a member of the Indianapolis Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and is a founding member of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dream Team.
In 1986, Terry received her B.A. from Douglass College where she double majored in Dance and Communication. While at Rutgers, she was a member of RU Danceworks, and founded the Minority Student Dance Ensemble. She attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and received her M.A. in Dance Education, with an emphasis in Dance History. She completed post-graduate work in Management Development at Harvard University, and earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree (D.Min) from Newburgh Theological Seminary.
Terry is a Certified Nonprofit Consultant by the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations & Executives and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Indiana State Legislative Arts Advocacy Council. She has received three Mayor’s Community Service Awards, the Indiana Community Arts Leadership Award, the Indiana Women of Achievement Award, the Outstanding Service Award from Rotary International, Inc. and the prestigious Athena Award from Women in Business Unlimited (WIBU), Inc.
In 2019, Terry ran for Mayor of Muncie (IN). Although she was unsuccessful in her bid for office, she will go down in history as the first African American of either political party to win a primary bid for mayor in Muncie and to run in the general election.
Bio update – September 2021