Professor of Political Science/Coordinator, Political Science Program
College Of Liberal Arts
Phone: 704.378.1095
Global Politics
Africa & Its Diasporas
Cabo Verdean studies
Black Women and Gender Studies
Education Pedagogy
Gender, race, class and power
HBCU history
Black African women and transnationalism
Oral histories and digital media
African immigrant communities in the US
Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work place
Black women, social media and social move
Providence College (BA)
Clark Atlanta (MA & PhD)
Dr. Terza Silva Lima-Neves—known affectionately by her students as “Dr. T”—is a distinguished higher education leader, scholar, award-winning educator, speaker, and unapologetic advocate for Black women and girls.
She holds a Leadership Foundation certificate from Harvard Business School for Executive Leadership, as well as degrees from Providence College and Clark Atlanta University. A former Fellow of the International Women’s Forum (IWF)—a prestigious global program for distinguished women leaders across 25 countries—Dr. Lima-Neves has established herself as a thought leader in education, community advocacy, social justice, cultural competency, and workplace culture. In 2025, she delivered a widely acclaimed TEDx talk on compassionate education after the pandemic, challenging institutions to reimagine learning spaces with empathy, equity, and care at the center.
As a scholar and author, she is the editor of Cabo Verdeans in the United States: 21st Century Critical Perspectives and the principal editor of Cabo Verdean Women Writing Remembrance, Resilience, and Revolution: Kriolas Poderozas, both published by Lexington Press (2021, 2024). With more than two decades of experience, she has delivered keynote lectures, presentations, and workshops at institutions and organizations including TEDx, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – World View and the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black History and Culture, Howard University, Providence College, Brown University, the National Humanities Center, the State University of New York at Buffalo, the Lincoln School, Bristol Community College, Virginia State University, Bridgewater State University, Wingate University, the Charlotte Teachers Institute, CNN Africa, and Vanguard Corporation.
Her work has been featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, Women in Higher Education, and other publications. Committed to community empowerment, she co-founded Poderoza: International Conference on Cabo Verdean Women in 2016, a platform dedicated to education, advocacy, and cultural preservation.
Dr. Lima-Neves has received numerous awards and honors, including a 2024 citation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Senate for her dedication to uplifting the Cabo Verdean community. She was also named a 2024 honoree of the Boston Red Sox Celebrate Cabo Verde Strelas Awards for her contributions to cultural preservation in the U.S., and was awarded the 2024 Second Degree Professional Merit Medal by the Government of Cabo Verde for outstanding contributions to education and culture. Other accolades include the 2022 Charlotte Ledger 40 Over 40 Leaders award, the 2020 Martin Luther King, Jr. Vision Award for Social Justice from Providence College, and recognition as a 2019 finalist for HBCU Digest’s Female Faculty of the Year. She also made history as the first Black president of the North Carolina Political Science Association, serving during the 2019–2020 term.
You can learn more about her work at terzalimaneves.com.