Therese Badon
Therese Badon has been employed with UNCF since 2005. Due to her fundraising success, she has been promoted several times within the organization. She currently serves in the role of vice president of development and is responsible for overseeing 12 local offices and 38 staff members with an annual revenue goal of $19 million. She previously served as the regional development director for UNCF, overseeing five states with a $7 million annual goal. Before coming to UNCF, Badon served as the executive director of alumni relations and annual giving at UNCF-member institution Dillard University in New Orleans. She also served as a banking officer at Capital One Bank, where she worked for 12 years.
Throughout the latter part of her career, Badon has been a strong advocate and supporter of education for minorities and low-income students aspiring to fulfill the dream of earning a college degree. She is engaged in efforts to help improve schools, health disparities and assistance to families from low-income communities.
In addition, after one of the most devastating hurricanes to hit U.S. soil—Hurricane Katrina—Badon had the privilege of working with two former U.S. presidents, President Bill Clinton and President George H.W. Bush, on the “Wave of Hope” campaign in 2005 that generated more than $4 million to support seven damaged colleges and universities along the Gulf Coast.
Badon is an elected official of the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee representing District E. She is a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and served on the alumni relations commission for CASE. She has been rated as a “faculty star” for her presentation skills during the CASE/Kresge HBCU Learning Institute, and she is a Kresge Advancement Fellow. She is published and acknowledged in the book, “Changing the Odds: Lessons learned from the Kresge HBCU Initiative.”
Badon has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Dillard University in New Orleans. She has served as commencement speaker for St. Mary’s Academy, Women’s Day speaker and Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Speaker at St. Peter Claver Church and has participated in several other speaking engagements. She served as a member of the City of New Orleans Human Relations Commission, appointed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and former Mayor C. Ray Nagin. Currently, she serves as a board member for the Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans, board member for Marillac Health Center, board member for KIPP New Orleans Schools and former board member for the Girls Scouts of Southeast Louisiana.
She was honored in 2008 and 2014 as one of New Orleans “Business Women of the Year” and she also received the 2014 “Role Model Award” from the Young Leadership Council and numerous other awards and recognition for her work in the community. Badon is a member of The Links, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Badon is a notary public in New Orleans and the wife of New Orleans Clerk of First City Court Austin Badon, Jr., and mother of son Ayden.