Black MBA Foundation Exec Barbara Thomas Passionate for Young Professionals

Black MBA Foundation Exec Barbara Thomas Passionate for Young Professionals

Considering Barbara L. Thomas was told as a child when she was in foster care being shifted from home to home that she would “not amount to anything,” she sure is a consummate professional. The executive director of the National Black MBA Foundation professes that she’s a “dream catcher” and advises that “to be a change agent, you have to start with yourself.”

The Columbia University graduate has always been determined. She cleaned houses to pay for her education. It paid off. A self-proclaimed “financial turnaround specialist,” Thomas was the first African American female senior vice president of CBS news and the “first woman to graduate from CBS School of Management, and African American.”


Thomas worked at CBS for 25 years and then she had an epiphany; she became an entrepreneur. She’s the senior partner with B. Thomas and Associates, which is a strategic-business-education and human capital consulting group.


Thomas was a member of a panel at the inaugural Global Women Mentoring & Philanthropy Summit. The topic of discussion was “Women as Change Agents.”

She shared her philosophy on the topic, “It’s about you wanting to change your life and this affects all of the people along the way that you touch.”


According to her bio, Thomas views her role as an extension of her personal commitment to improving the lives and prospects of African Americans and their communities.

Thomas, who loves to assist professionals, has a passion for young people. She offers, “[It’s about] how can I help young people and build that pipeline for them? I use my skills that I had from my world of finance. It’s my goal to expand the program and make a difference in the lives of people that I touch.”

She created the Black MBA Leadership Institute, which provides cost-effective coaching for frontline managers. –yvette caslin

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