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Theresa Pettijohn serves as the Senior Grants Management Specialist for the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council). Created by the RESTORE Act of 2012 and comprised of the Governors of the five Gulf Coast States and Cabinet-level officials from six federal agencies, the RESTORE Council is responsible for restoring and protecting the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands, and economy of the Gulf Coast.

Prior to this position, Theresa served as the Oklahoma State Director at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Her responsibilities included delegated authority to manage and oversee all CNCS mission-based and grants management activities for the Oklahoma Field Office including management/oversight, monitoring and risk analysis of federal grant applications, and supporting documents. 

While at CNCS, Theresa developed strategies and led outreach to Tribal leaders developing programming to address critical issues. She also developed a partnership between CNCS and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Voluntary Services generating a national network of organizations collaborating to increase services to veterans and military families. She co-authored a Veteran and Military Family Steering Committee Report which included seven policy and program recommendations assessing the continued programmatic efforts of CNCS programming in response to Executive Orders signed by President Obama. Theresa also served as a member of the CNCS Disaster Response Cadre cohort of agency staff specially trained to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. In this role, she was deployed to manage the AmeriCorps response following Hurricane Michael and assisted in Long-Term Recovery training for non-profit community organizations following Hurricane Katrina.

Before CNCS, Theresa was Executive Director of Arkansas Literacy Councils (ALC). While at ALC, Theresa had the opportunity to serve as liaison to the Arkansas Lieutenant Governor for literacy and adult education issues. She was appointed to serve as the Arkansas representative for the Tri-State Literacy Initiative promoting and developing resources for literacy service providers in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Theresa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Central Arkansas and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.