Theresa obtained an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from Guelph University. She has taught art at Secondary School for 30 years.

In August, 2006 she volunteered for the Stephen Lewis Foundation's first Grandmothers Gathering in Toronto. She is currently a co-chair of the Grandmothers of Steel, a group formed in 2006 in Hamilton as part of the Grandmothers movement in Canada.