Terri graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Colgate University in 1998, where she majored in History.  In 2004, Terri graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. While at Penn, she received two Edward V. Sparer Fellowships to work at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights and Community Legal Services in their housing division.  Terri was actively involved at Penn, serving as president of the student body and a legal writing fellow.  After law school, Terri clerked for the Honorable Deborah T. Poritz, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.  Her publications include "An Implied Warranty of Freedom from Sexual Harassment: The Solution for Harassed Tenants Where Fair Housing Act has Failed" and "Good Moral Character: Already an Unconstitutionally Vague Concept and Now Putting Bar Applicants in a Post 9/11 World on an Elevated Threat Level." 

As a lawyer with the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Terri worked on McWaters v. FEMA, a nationwide class action that challenges the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s failure to provide adequate assistance to impoverished survivors following Hurricane Katrina.  In the course of her work, Terri spoke to numerous Katrina evacuees across the country and worked on a nationwide team of prominent attorneys who litigated the case.  Many of the Katrina survivors are women and their children, who often face additional factors complicating their situations (such as concerns regarding domestic violence or child support).  Terri also conducted a nationwide survey to assess the problem of landlord sexual assault of tenants.  The survey grew out of a concern that sexual violence may be contributing to homelessness and restricting access to housing for low-income women.  The project’s goal is to help legal and social service providers as well as advocates work together to better address the problem.  Additionally, Terri spoke about the obstacles domestic violence survivors and their families face in obtaining and maintaining housing as part of the 2006 ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference on a panel entitled “Helping Homeless Families and Youth Affected by Domestic Violence Access Housing and Education.”

Terri currently works as a Law Fellow at the National Women's Law Center (NWLC).