She was only 5 when her mother left, leaving her to help raise a younger sister and two younger brothers on Chicago’s South Side.

“I took on the mother role,” Deniece Senter says.

AMY J. CORRENTI | ROCKFORDWOMAN.COM
Deniece Senter

After high school she served in the Army for seven years, including in Desert Storm. On returning, she battled post-traumatic stress syndrome, eventually using her experience to counsel others.

“You feel guilty for being back,” she explains. “You have a sense of responsibility as a leader, but sometimes you have to put that weapon down.”

Now as the head of a national ministry, Senter understands what it’s like to be a woman in power.

“A person in power has influence,” she says. “She sets a pace. She is an example to others.”

Senter, 41, founded Dinah International Ministries, which helps battered and abused women. She speaks at national conferences, offers online class sessions and has written five books. When the economy took a downturn two years ago, she took a second job as a sales associate for Rock River Hyundai. She’s also first lady at Faith Walkers Assembly, where her husband, John, is pastor.

She agrees with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s advice about women taking power seriously: Image matters. Slender and impeccably dressed, Senter looks like a fashion model.

“Appearance is very important. We should not be obsessed with it, but when we look good, we feel good about ourselves.”

Image figures into her place in the church, too, where the pastor’s wife is a role model. 

“People dress like me,” she says. “They pattern themselves behind me.”

They also have a front-row pew to her 17-year marriage and her three stepchildren and five adopted kids, who range in age from 13 to 24.

“The biggest challenge is not having any privacy,” she says. “Your life is an open book. You become the topic of discussion at the dinner table.”

But on the upside, “I’ve become a resource. They’ll ask me for help.”

Women need mentors — and to be mentors for other women, Senter says, echoing Townsend’s belief in the importance of who you know. Social gatherings, support groups and networking can help women achieve power, she says. Envy and jealousy have no place in the equation.

“We need to celebrate each other’s success more,” she says.

But Townsend’s third point resonates most strongly with Senter: staying true to personal values. It’s a message she spreads to the women she helps through Dinah International Ministries.

“If you don’t strongly believe in your faith, you can easily be detoured. Belief in yourself and your faith has to be a priority.”

Profile
Age: 41

Education: Graduated from Corliss High School in Chicago in 1987; attended Harold Washington College; has a degree in computer science

First job: Cashier for her father’s barbecue house; bank teller

Current job: Author, founder of Dinah International Ministries, first lady of Faith Walkers Assembly, sales associate for Rock River Hyundai

Family: Husband, John Farris Senter, pastor of Faith Walkers Assembly; eight children: Tremaine, Farris, Sherika, Juan, Jasmine, Andrew, Chardashia and Johnathan.

Hobby: Horseback riding

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