Theresa Marshall Economic Development Award Honoree Dr. Theresa Hooper Marshall is President of The Hooper Group, Inc. a national food and beverage hospitality services organization and ADVENTUS II Inc., a construction management company. She has turned both enterprises into positive operations that have stellar reputations as customer-focused firms. Born and raised in Newark, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and initially worked as music teacher in the Newark school system. The only girl and youngest in a family of seven brothers, her mother Willa Bell Hooper was a popular and long standing community activist and schoolteacher. Eager to further her knowledge, she earned a Masters Degree in Administration and Supervision of Higher Education at Columbia University and a Doctorate of Humanities from Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, she was the Director of the Afro-American House at Douglass College, which became a center for cultural activities under her tenure. In 1977, the NJ Department of Higher Education hired her as the Associate Director of State and Community Colleges. In 1982, she accepted a Presidential Appointment to serve as the executive director of the U.S. Department of Education Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Education (IACE) a senior executive position with senate confirmation. In that capacity, she reported directly to the Congress and the President When her brother called for support of the family construction company, she readily responded which resulted in a radical career change. She subsequently started her own construction management company known as ADVENTUS II, Inc. One of the high points of her business success was the first joint venture work on the NJ Performing Arts Center in Newark. This effort culminated in what has become an on going partnership with Turner Construction Company and on-going services to NJIT including the building of the Library and Electrical Engineering Building for the past 10 years. In 2000, she was recommended to purchase franchise rights for a TGI Friday’s at Liberty International Airport. In response to this opportunity, Dr. Marshall launched the Hooper Group, as a hospitality services management company. The vision of the Hooper Group is to operate in the hospitality industry, providing food and beverages services in transportation hubs and entertainment arenas. The Hooper Group currently owns and operates 2 TGIF franchise operations at the Newark International Airport. As an aside, Dr. Marshall became the first African American woman to own a TGIF. Most recently, she serves as the Chairperson of the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District, a non profit organization committed to planning designing, building and revitalizing the downtown Lincoln Park area. They have built 300 new ‘green’ housing units and are creating Lincoln Park Museum of African American music, a Smithsonian affiliate. She also serves as Vice Chair of the World Council of Peoples for the United Nations and is a member of the Academic Mexicana de Derecho Internacional. She is a board member of the NJ Restaurant Association and also sits on the Board of the Community Development Corporation for New Market Tax Credits. Dr. Marshall is the proud mother of one daughter, Erica who is a curator in Baltimore, Maryland.
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