Terri Sewell was raised in Selma, Alabama. Terri became the first black valedictorian of Selma High School. Terri graduated with honors from Princeton University receiving various scholarships including a U.S News and World Report scholarship. Terri attended Harvard Law School with the help of an NAACP Legal Defense Fund scholarship, graduating in 1992. She was the first black female partner in the Birmingham law firm of Maynard, Cooper, & Gale, P.C. She serves as a lawyer helping to raise money for public projects for some of the state’s most underserved public entities.