Charles Thomas Jr.

Charles Thomas Jr. is a best-selling author, on-air personality, public speaker, community volunteer, and philanthropist. He has written four creative nonfiction books, Scars, Exile, & Vindication (2012), Breakthrough: Stories of Resilience, Tragedy, and Triumph (2017), Leading Through Difficulty: The Darker Side of Workplace Behavior (2017), and Best Kept Secrets: From Invisible Walk-ons to Life Champions (2019). He is a co-host of the Divergent Thought podcast.
Early life
Thomas was born in Flint, Michigan and attended Powers Catholic High School, graduating in 1998. Thomas played varsity basketball and served as co-captain of the team in high school. He helped his team make state semifinals in 1997 and regional finals in 1998.
Education and Career
Thomas attended the University of Notre Dame, on academic and athletic scholarships, where he played as point guard and shooting guard on the varsity basketball team. About wanting to play basketball for Notre Dame, Thomas stated, "I practiced every single day … 1,000 shots a day. I wasn’t going to give up on my dream.”
He was chosen as the recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student Athlete Award and the NAACP Senior of the Year in 2002.
Thomas earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2007, a master's degree in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution from Creighton University in 2009; and a Doctorate of Education in Leadership Studies from Creighton University in 2014. While pursuing his doctoral degree, Thomas was inducted into the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society in February 2013. Thomas worked as a full-time project leader at a government consulting firm in Tysons, VA, Thomas currently serves as the CEO of Clear Cloud, a software engineering organization. He serves as Chairman of the Board for Opportunities, Alternatives and Resources (OAR) of Fairfax County, Inc, and teaches life-skills classes to incarcerated men who are preparing for re-entry into society.
He also works as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Maryland University College and George Mason University. He speaks to audiences on a variety of topics across the country. In February 2017, he presented on a panel about community involvement and philanthropy as part of the Future Fund at The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia's Giving Back Seminars. Thomas delivered the Reverend William F. Kelley, SJ, ΑΣΝ Endowed Lecture: "Prose and Poetry: The War Within" at Creighton University on March 14, 2018, and presented on the Darker Side of Workplace Behavior and the importance of Diversity and Inclusion at the Greenville Chamber of Commerce Diversity and Inclusion summit in Oct 2018.
Thomas published his first work of creative nonfiction, Scars, Exile & Vindication: My Life as an Experiment in 2012. His second work, Breakthrough: Stories of Resilience, Tragedy, and Triumph, was published in May 2017. His third nonfiction book Leading Through Difficulty: The Darker Side of Workplace Behavior was released in December 2017, and his fourth nonfiction book Best Kept Secrets: From Invisible Walk-ons to Life Champions was published August 2019.
Philanthropic Engagement
Thomas is the former Treasurer of the Board of Directors for Leadership Fairfax, a nonprofit professional leadership development organization. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for OAR of Fairfax County, and is a Board Member for Shelter House, an organization serving the homeless population in Fairfax County, Virginia. He also volunteers as a Wish Granter for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
In 2015 and 2016, he served as a member of the Future Fund's leadership committee, a giving circle of young professionals at the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia.
In 2018, Thomas accepted the Sojourner Truth Award, along with OAR Executive Director Derwin Overton, on behalf of OAR of Fairfax County.
Works
Books
*Best Kept Secrets: From Invisible Walk-ons to Life Champions. 2019
*Leading Through Difficulty: The Darker Side of Workplace Behavior. 2017
*Breakthrough: Stories of Resilience, Tragedy, and Triumph. 2017
*Scars, Exile, & Vindication: My Life as an Experiment. 2012
Articles
*"Organizational Dynamics Within a Team" Supervision Magazine. Volume 79. Number 8. August 2018
* Association for Talent Development. June 15, 2015
* Creighton University.
* Association for Talent Development. June 13, 2014
* "Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Responses to Organizational Change" Supervision Magazine. March 2014
* [http://content.yudu.com/Library/A22svs/LivingEducationeMaga/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl&skipFlashChecktrue "Education is Key"] Living Education eMagazine. Winter 2013
* Living Education eMagazine. Fall 2013
Magazine Features
* Powers Catholic High School Spring/Summer 2016
* Northern Virginia Magazine. April 14, 2016
Podcasts
* Divergent Thought on BLIS.FM
Awards and Honors
* 2019 Washington Business Journal Minority Business Leader Award Honoree
*2018 Sojourner Truth Award on behalf of OAR with Executive Director, Derwin Overton
*2017 40 Under 40 Honoree from the Leadership Center for Excellence
*2016 Outstanding Service to the Community Award from Creighton University
* 2015 Emerging Influential Leader of the Year Award from Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce
* 2015 National 40 Under 40 Honoree from The Network Journal
Personal life
Thomas lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and two children.

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