Advisory Board

Terri Dean
Advisory Board Chair
Retired, Sr. Vice President - Global Communications
Verizon Business

Terri Dean retired in October 2008 as the senior vice president of global communications for Verizon Business. Over the course of her 31 year career at Verizon, she held positions of increasing responsibility, acquiring expertise in finance, marketing, sales, customer service operations, corporate philanthropy, and internal and external communications. Terri’s accomplishments as a communications leader and mentor over the course of her career earned her the distinction of having a business case written about her entitled “Communicating with an Enterprise Perspective.” The case study was taught in August 2009 with her in attendance at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. Presently, Terri is the president of the TcRn Group, Inc. and consults in the areas of organizational effectiveness, communications, and strategic leadership.

Terri has been featured in national print publications including an extensive interview and placement on the cover of the National Black MBA magazine. She was also featured in a special edition of Profiles in Diversity Journal as “A Woman Worth Watching.” Terri was recognized by the Harlem Branch of the YMCA with its “Black Achiever in Industry Award”, an award her late father received following his distinguished careers in the military and corporate America. She is a recipient of the Chatham College Cornerstone Award for Excellence in Business and the North Atlantic Region Citizenship Award presented to her by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., of which she is a member.

Terri is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, an organization representing the most senior African American executives in Fortune 500 companies. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Lincoln University, the Board of Trustees of Chatham University, and chairs the Board of Visitors of the Divinity School at Duke University. In addition, she chairs the Trustee Ministry at Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Germantown and serves as chair of the Advisory Board of the Ron Brown Scholar Program. Formerly, Terri was the chair of the School of Business Advisory Council at Norfolk State University where she conceived the need for and led the establishment of a business ethics curriculum.

Terri Dean received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She and her husband reside in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of two daughters, one a public relations professional in Washington, D.C. and the other a graduate student at Georgetown University.

February 2012