“Timberly is a fresh, young talent. She is intelligent and resourceful and lights up the screen with her upbeat and dynamic personality,” says Abbe Raven, Chairman Emeritus of A + E Networks. “She is hard-working and a delight to have on one’s team.”

Considering that Timberly Whitfield grew up in Africa in a household without any television, her choice of a TV journalism career might seem ironic. But Timberly’s innate curiosity, organization, ebullience, and extraordinary drive have helped her carve out a successful yet diverse path in the industry.

For six seasons and 541 episodes, Timberly hosted the award-winning, magazine-style television series New Morning with Timberly Whitfield. The hour-long program featured uplifting stories about people who see their life as a journey of meaning and purpose, and helped its viewers begin their day inspired, focused, and renewed. The series also aired internationally, and was seen in Israel and South Africa.

Timberly moderates book, film and TV Q&A events for organizations like BAFTA NY, where she can be seen onstage with directors, actors,  producers and authors, such as Benicio Del Toro; Allison Williams; Daniel Kaluuya; Toby Jones; Amandla Stenberg; Dir. George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food, The Hate U Give); Author Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give); Author Gary Morgenstein (Mound Over Hell); Dir. Tamara Jenkins (Savages, Private Life); and more.

Timberly’s impressive credits include co-hosting The History Channel’s Field Trips USA and Year by Year for Kids, and interviewing celebrities (ranging from Oprah Winfrey and Gwyneth Paltrow to classical performing artists) for A&E Television Networks’ Breakfast with the Arts.

But Timberly’s talents are not limited to being an on-air personality. For over seven years she served as programming executive and producer for several series on A&E.

Graduating with a Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she was honored with the John M. Patterson Award, Timberly quickly rose in the industry. Beginning as a general assignment reporter for a local cable news program in New York City, she later worked as an associate producer/writer for Bolthead Communications Group, where she produced two documentary series: The 80’s (chronicling major international news events of the decade for MPI Home Video) and In Search of the Dream (broadcast on A&E, the six-part series documented the African-American experience).

Timberly has appeared live on network affiliates around the country as a parenting expert and spokesperson for PLUS Media, a national marketing firm. She is also actively involved in raising environmental awareness. She addressed the Green Festival in Washington, DC, and appeared in a segment called “Black and Green” for BET’s Meet the Faith.

What enables Timberly to be so knowledgeable and versatile in her career? Perhaps the answer lies in her upbringing: Living in three countries and traveling to more than twenty others in her young lifetime provided her with a wealth of experiences not afforded to most (as a Swahili-speaking eight-year-old, she taught English to local Tanzanian children).

Consequently, there are few mountains she is afraid to climb. That she recently returned to Africa to conquer another mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro, successfully scaling its 19,340 feet in five arduous days, demonstrates the kind of determination that makes Timberly an asset to any organization.

Timberly is a member of New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT), the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and the Producers Guild of America (PGA). It’s important to Timberly to give something back, so for several years she’s been a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City.

More and more in demand, she frequently appears around the country as a guest speaker. She recently returned to Columbia as a speaker/moderator on the morality, religion, and spirituality panel at the inaugural “She’s the Way” Summit. Timberly also cohosted the first season of Coffee Shop Confessions with Andrew Shue, Alex McCord, and Julia Knight. Produced by Cafe Mom Studios, Timberly and her cohosts weighed in on real mom confessions with their opinions, advice, and humor.

The daughter of United Methodist missionaries who were civil rights activists and Black Panthers, Timberly grew up to marry Robert Allen, a former lieutenant in the NYPD. Collaborating to write and develop sitcoms and dramas for television, the couple lives in New York City with their daughter Raina and son Gabriel, who they are raising in the Jewish faith. Raina and Gabriel, like their mother Timberly, are amazing examples of intelligence, awareness, love, and deep spirituality.