Toni Russell

A native of Washington, D.C., Toni Russell grew up with a mother and father who, in addition to their full-time careers, were professional singers. Both stressed the importance of education and entered Russell into Kiddie College at the age of 18 months. In high school, she participated in cheerleading, softball, pom pons, track, and the flag squad. With the assistance of academic scholarships, Russell matriculated at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, earned a B.S. in Computer Science in 1988. While at UMES, she received numerous scholastic honors and awards. In 1998 she earned an M.B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University. She also pursued Post Graduate Studies in Law at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. It was while she was in Law School that she realized that the fire for her passion was smoldering. Over the years Russell appeared in numerous film, television, stage, voiceover, print, and modeling productions. In 1971, at the age of 5, she made her debut as a contestant in the Little Miss Beauty Pageant in Washington, D.C. Later, Russell was cast as Host of a Turner Music Television show called Videos Inc. As a recurring show on UPN-24, Russell entertained the viewers with R&B music videos, as well as interviewed and educated the viewers on public services. Russell was a regular on the Internet Soap Opera - This Way In (TWI), produced by Niavision.com (the first web casting service of its kind). On TWI, Russell played a Business Executive (Charlene Hilton). Some of her TV commercial credits include Comcast, Carmax, Liberty Ford, and Bazensky's Furniture. Her film credits include a wide variety of roles ranging from a news reporter to an entourage leader to a Hispanic murder victim. Russell enjoys "the business" and continues to fulfill her passion to this day.