Ebony Danielle Thomas
Senior Associate
Booz Allen Hamilton
Washington, D.C.
Age: 38
A senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, Ebony Danielle Thomas was promoted three times in seven years, becoming the first African-American, female, senior leader in her market. ?I started my career on Wall Street and continued in finance throughout my MBA program, where I concentrated on finance and investment management,? she discloses. ?I planned to go into Private Wealth, but the financial markets collapsed during that period and many of the banks closed.? She switched to management consulting, demonstrating an agility that has paid off.
At Booz Allen, Thomas?s primary responsibility is to provide change management advisory services to the military healthcare system. ?Change management is about ensuring that constituents are ready, willing and able to accept and adopt a change,? she says. ?Sounds simple, but people resist organizational change because they don?t understand the impetus for the change, or the benefit of the change. My job is to make sure they have all the information needed and can leverage it as they transition.? A challenging job, but exciting for Thomas. ?In rolling out an electronic healthcare record system for three different branches of the military that are vastly different in culture, every day is different,? she states. ?I get paid to think and solve a new set of challenges and client problems daily.?
A Spelman College alumna with an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an avid golfer, Thomas is committed to uplifting others through organizations such as CALIBR and Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT). She helps junior associates become acclimated to Booz Allen by serving as chair of the firm?s African-American Forum. ?It is my greatest accomplishment, in addition to my client work, because it impacts so many people.?
FUN FACTS
Favorite song: Bonita Applebum by A Tribe Called Quest
Favorite book: If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Favorite charity: Washington Performing Arts Society
