Our Team

P. Angelicia Simmons

P. (Paulene) Angelicia (“Angie”) Simmons is the only daughter and youngest child of the Reverend William E. Simmons, Sr. and Mrs. Bernice Gooding Simmons, and the descendant of some profoundly amazing ancestors; the grand-daughter of the Reverend William Henry Simmons and Mrs. Gladys Cere Staten Simmons and Mr. Robert Lee Gooding, Sr. and Mrs. Paulene Williams Gooding; the great grand-daughter of the Reverend Charlie Frank Simmons and Mrs. Luvenia Brown Simmons, Mr. Forrest Williams and Mrs. Zephora Williams and Mr. Ira Gooding and Mrs. Pocahontas Vause Gooding. 

Angie is a product of the Moore County Schools in Carthage, NC where she is a 1988 graduate of Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, NC where she was the Student Body President. She is also a very proud 1992 graduate of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and was the senior class President. She was initiated into the Alpha Mu Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in Spring of 1991 at North Carolina A&T. Angie also holds a Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central School of Law in Durham, NC. Currently, Angie is a seminarian as a first year Master of Divinity Student at Duke University Divinity School.

Angie is a reader, classically trained pianist, lover of all things “politics,” fitness buff, animal lover that owns none, organizer and planner. Interrupt her at any time to discuss the plight and awesomeness of Black women and girls and she will punctuate her schedule, gladly obliging.

She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute of Advocacy & Social Action and works tirelessly with its current initiative, Fannie Lou’s Girls, a Rite-of-Passage program for Black girls ages 6-18. The Institute has plans to assemble its North Carolina Council on Black Women and Girls the Institute’s new initiative and The JoAnn Little Center to research and highlight Black women and the North Carolina criminal justice system, with emphasis on gendered racism in the overcriminalization, overincarceration, and capital punishment of Black women and girls in North Carolina. She is writing the stories of Rosanna Lightner Phillips and Bessie M. Williams, the only two Black women executed on North Carolina’s death row to date. 

She is a member of several organizations: Trinity Faith Full Gospel Church, the Knightdale-Wake Forest Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Raleigh-Wake Aggie Alumni Chapter, L.O.A.T. – Ladies of North Carolina A&T, and a Founding Member – Higher Heights for America.

Torrence Simmons

The son of career educators, Torrence Simmons was inspired early with the foundational passions of education and service. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was commissioned into the United States Navy, where he served for 20-plus years until his retirement. It was during his military service that he also obtained a master’s degree in Financial Management from the Naval Postgraduate School and a graduate certificate in Strategic Organizational Leadership from Villanova University.

In addition to military service, Torrence’s professional background includes approximately 20 years of facilitation and instruction experience accomplished within the College / University, Military and Secondary School settings. For more than 25 years, he has served in several different leadership capacities with several different churches located throughout the United States.

The greatest of his accomplishments is his children: daughters Carrielle, a Biology degreed full-time nursing student and Tori, a Biology degreed second-year Veterinary Medicine student, and his son Torrence II, a.k.a. “Scotty,” who is currently serving in the United States Army.

Passionate about helping others, Torrence often finds himself continuing his life’s theme of service to others by working, serving, and leading in his local church and community.

Victoria Griffin, Fellow

Victoria Griffin is an honors second-year student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University studying Political Science. Victoria graduated from Fuquay-Varina High School in Fuquay-Varina, NC. Victoria has a deep passion for civil rights and politics, especially as it relates to black girls and black students in general, and hopes to earn her JD and practice law in a way that provides better opportunities for black people across the country. She is extremely excited for the opportunity to work with the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute of Advocacy and Social Action to not only foster her passions, but learn and ultimately grow.