Mary L. Thomas

 Executive Vice President

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Mary L. Thomas is a native of Pacolet, SC and is Executive Vice President of the Spartanburg County Foundation. Ms. Thomas joined Foundation in 1998 as Senior Program Officer and was promoted to Vice President for Programs in 2005.  As Executive Vice President, Ms. Thomas serves as a senior member of the executive staff and is responsible for the day to day operations of the organization, and leads the mission, vision and strategies of the Foundation while translating the Foundation's goals into the overall program of work.  Ms. Thomas is gifted in building the capacity of individuals to do great work.

From 1987 to March 1998 Ms. Thomas was the Executive Director of the Bethlehem Community Center. During this time Ms. Thomas spent three months in Eastern Africa leading a mission team to develop a village for Rwandan refugee and Zairian street children. Ms. Thomas's work as executive director of the Bethlehem Community Center was also recognized at the General Board of Global Ministries Annual Conference in Kansas City in the late 90's in recognition of the children who died in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Ms. Thomas attended Union County Schools and is a graduate of Winthrop University and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French and Communications. She was an exchange student to France through Lenoir-Rhyne College in 1983 and is a former French teacher in Spartanburg District 7 schools.

Ms. Thomas is currently a member of Delta Sigma Theta and Spartanburg Downtown Rotary Club.  Ms. Thomas also serves on the boards of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, The Southeastern Council of Foundations, and BMW Community Advisory Panel.  She is a past member of CF Leads, Women in Philanthropy, AFL Telecommunications Advisory Board, the Mary Black Health System Women's and Children's Advisory Board, the Mary Black Health System Board of Trustees, SC ETV Advisory Board, and is a former Commissioner for The South Carolina State Housing and Finance Authority.   Ms. Thomas is a very active leader in the Spartanburg Community and has had extensive leadership roles with a host of organizations throughout the area and beyond.  Ms. Thomas is a graduate of Leadership Spartanburg, and is a Past Chair of The SC Grantmakers, the Spartanburg County Consensus Project and Spartanburg Communities in Schools. 

Ms. Thomas's many honors include being named the first African American winner of the 2006 Council on Foundation's Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking, which came with a $10,000 award and sculpture.  Ms. Thomas took the cash prize and established a fund (The Mary L. Thomas Award) to perpetuate a vision of grassroots leadership, giving voice to those members of her community who are change agents in their "own right."  The Mary L. Thomas Award for Civic Leadership and Community Change is a result of Mary's generosity to give her cash prize back to the community.  She challenged the community to match her money to recognize others who "fly under the radar" and need encouragement in their quest to make a difference.  As a result of this challenge, hundreds of gifts large and small helped make this vision a reality.  The Fund garnered over $150,000 in just a few months and has been endowed to strengthen voices throughout Spartanburg County. 

Ms. Thomas is most noted for her work building partnerships across the public, private and nonprofit sectors to bring about community improvement.  This is most notable in the Spartanburg Community Indicators Project, which is a report that is released three times a year which reveals key statistics regarding the status of health, education, social environment, civic engagement and our natural environment throughout Spartanburg County.  She has been instrumental in building a large scale collaborative that is now known as a best practice across the country. 

Other honors include the James E. Whitmire Meritorious Award, the Sunrise Civitan Good Citizen Award, the Mary McCloud Bethune Trailblazer Award (presented by the National Council of Negro Women), the 1998 Piedmont Area Girl Scouts Woman of Achievement, a 1997 YMCA Black Achiever, Junior League Sustainer of the Year, and numerous others.

Ms. Thomas is a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church and recently led a church-wide strategic planning process for the 2,000 plus members of one of the fastest growing churches in the area.  Ms. Thomas is an ordained minister and the second female to be ordained in the Rocky River Baptist Association.

 

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