Theresa Jenkins Hilliard is a retired civil servant who spent 30 years with the Federal Government. She retired as the Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Manager (EEO/DM) where she was responsible for the EEO and Diversity Programs. She was responsible for the administration, education and training of over 1,000 employees on Affirmative Employment, Workplace Discrimination, Alternative Dispute Resolution, EEO Counseling and Cultural Diversity in the workplace. She was a Personnel Specialist for eight years with State Government. After her retirement in 2007, she started her business, Mama Doonk’s Gullah, and began sharing the history and culture of her ancestors, the Gullah-Geechee People, through speaking engagements and storytelling across South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Massachusetts. She was born on Edisto Island, S.C. where she spent her early years under the guardianship of her beloved maternal grandmother, Susan Jenkins, affectionately known as “Mama Doonk.” Gullah was her first language taught to her by her grandmother, whose only language was Gullah. Her ancestors have a rich history on one of the largest sea islands in South Carolina, where the Gullah-Geechee people resided during slavery and continues to reside today. She is also the great-granddaughter of Henry Hutchinson, who built the historical Hutchinson House on Edisto Island and the great-great granddaughter of James “Jim” Hutchinson, who was a legendary “King” of Edisto Island, a Civil War veteran, and political leader, who played a pivotal role in the newly freed enslaved people getting land on Edisto Island at the end of the Civil War. Ms. Hilliard received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Workforce Training and Development from Southern Illinois University. She is a business owner, a Gullah Storyteller/lecturer, a South Carolina Arts Commission Teaching Artist-in-Residence; a Certified City of Charleston Tour Guide, a local historian and Interpreter at the Old Slave Mart Museum. She is the author of three books and created a line of Gullah-Geechee spices that can be purchased on her website mamadoonk.com. Her books are: 1) Mama Doonk’s Gullah Recipes; 2) A Guide to Charleston’s African American Historical Markers; and 3) Mama Doonk’s Gullah Recipes, 2nd Edition. Ms. Hilliard sings with the Charleston Gospel Choir, and has performed gospel and Old Negro Spirituals throughout Europe. She is a member of Greater Zion AME Church and serves on the MOJA Arts Festival Committee, and a member of the South Carolina Storytelling Network. She is very active with her community serving as an officer with the Maryville/ Ashleyville Neighborhood Association. Ms. Hilliard was featured in the 2014 issue of National Geographic video magazine, Post and Courier Newspaper, Charleston Magazine, Gun and Garden Magazine, Charleston Inside Out Magazine, Essence Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Charleston City Paper, West of paper, Charleston Southern Belle, and more. She also appeared on Fox News 24, Lowcountry Live Television Show, Keeping It Krystal Klear, and The Quentin Washington Show. Ms. Hilliard has presented at the MOJA Arts and Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festivals, the State Museum, Gibbes Museum of Art, The Charleston Museum, Morris Museum of Art, Boston, MA City Hall, Public and Private schools, and many other public and private venues within and out of the state of South Carolina. Ms. Hilliard is a recipient of President Obama’s Drum Major for Volunteer Award. Having dedicated her post-professional career for the past 15 years to preserving the Gullah-Geechee rich history, shows her dedication and commitment to passing it on. Theresa and her husband, Franklin, have three wonderful children and ten awesome grandchildren.

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