Dana Henson

Dana Henson is a Principal and Vice President of The Henson Development Company, Inc. (THC), a 100% family owned real estate development company, and she is also Owner and President of Platform Construction, LLC, a 100% woman-minority-owned construction business. With over 26 years in real estate development she is highly sought after and recognized for her expertise in creative and luxury affordable housing developments, business development and community engagement. Her commitment to community development and inclusion of minority and women owned businesses is unparalleled. Her development of strategic business and government partnerships for meeting such goals has been recognized by numerous government agencies. She has worked on over $600 Million in developments of affordable and market rate rental and homeownership units. THC is currently 1 of four partners working on the $1 Billion-dollar Choice Neighborhood redevelopment of Perkins-Somerset-Oldtown (PSO) in Baltimore, Maryland and the $100 Million redevelopment of 17.3 acres in Park Heights. Ms. Henson’s personal hands on oversight and attention to detail has grown Platform Construction to working on multi-million-dollar projects including 1405 Point Street Apartments and Wills Wharf, a Hilton Canopy Hotel located in Harbor Point, Baltimore, Maryland.

Being a serial entrepreneur, Ms. Henson is also the owner and designer of Au Fait Designs, an all things luxury brand. Mastering her entrepreneurship skills has allowed Ms. Henson to expand her brand to offer consulting services to those starting businesses.

With a strong commitment to give back; and more specifically, the education of our youth, Ms. Henson Founded her own non-profit, T.E.A.M. (Teaching Education and Motivation-T.E.A.M.) developed out of the realization that there is a strong need for educational programs to help motivate our youth. This program caught the attention of Doug Becker, Founder of Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and his Contract Services Division. They, along with the Will Smith Foundation were key financial contributors to the start-up and operations of TEAM from 1995-1997.

Ms. Henson has held executive marketing and sales positions with IBM and Xerox Corporation and as the previous Deputy Executive Director of Maryland/ District of Columbia Minority Supplier Development Council (MD/DC MSDC), Founder and Executive Director of her own foundation and former Business Manager for retired NFL player, Chris McAlister, and various other consulting positions, Ms. Henson is a true trailblazer and continues to lead all of her businesses in all areas in the pursuit of excellence.

Dana is a Cum Laude graduate of Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Business Administration and minor in Accounting, completing her degree in 3 years.

Ms. Henson is a 2021 Baltimore Business Journal Best in Real Estate Awardee, Ms. Henson currently serves as a Board Member of Port Discovery Children’s Museum sitting on the Diversity, Future Focus and Governance Committees and is also a CityLab Fellow participating as a part of the Capstone Review Team assisting with the evaluation of projects of the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Henson is Baltimore City Commissioner of Housing appointee to the Inclusionary Housing Steering Committee and a member of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services Core Leadership Team.