Teresa Haley serves as Senior Policy Advisor to FDPS and the President of the Illinois Chapter of the NAACP. She received her bachelor’s degree in Communication in 1992 and her master’s degree in Public Administration in 1994 from the University of Illinois. She is a longtime passionate civil rights activist, public policy advocate, professional trainer and dynamic speaker. In 2015, she became the first female president of the Illinois NAACP State Conference and is serving her sixth consecutive term as president of the Springfield Branch NAACP.
She spearheaded the first-ever Springfield Branch NAACP Office and Education Center. She chairs the Economic Development Workgroup for the Illinois Department of Public Health Covid Taskforce and Springfield Airport Authority, which helps small black-owned businesses stay alive. She serves on the governor’s Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative Transition Committee and the Governor’s Commission for Environmental Justice. Among the numerous honors Haley has received is the first-ever NAACP Activist of the Year Image Award in 2020, the Community Service Award from the Frontier International Club in 2020. Teresa was the first black female to receive the Springfield’s First Citizens Award in 2019.
In February 2022, Teresa received the Alumni Humanitarian Award from the University of Illinois for her outstanding involvement and dedication, significant contribution of leadership and service. In March 2022, Teresa received the Paul Harris Fellow Award – Community Service Award from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.