Baltimore’s Rev. Frances “Toni” Murphy Draper is great-granddaughter of the AFRO Newspaper founder and granddaughter of a Delta Sigma Theta Sorority founder, of which she is also a member. At Morgan State University, she earned a B.A. in Spanish Education and then a M.Ed from Johns Hopkins University. “Toni” attended the University of Maryland, earning an M.B.A., and picked up graduate credits at St. Mary’s Seminary before receiving an M.S. in pastoral counseling in 1996 from Loyola College. She received a doctorate in ministry from the United Theological Seminary. She is the publisher of The AFRO. In 2022, Toni was named National Newspaper Publishers Association Publisher of the Year and Editor & Publisher’s 25 over 50. Three times she has been honored as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women.
