In this episode of Reimagining Company Culture, we’re chatting with Jacob Thomas, Communications Director at Common Defense. Jacob now consults and contracts with multiple community and national organizations advancing civil and human rights and is the Communications Director for Common Defense, the largest organization of grassroots progressive veterans in the nation. Tune in to learn Jacob’s thoughts on advice for managers navigating difficult conversations, creating sustainable change, going above and beyond with DEi training, and more!

Jacob Thomas (he/him), an Air Force and AF Reserve veteran, served as a network engineer and sexual assault survivor advocate over eight years of service (2008-2016). Throughout his service he advocated for the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) service members creating Grand Forks AFB’s first LGBTQ+ history booth during the annual Multicultural Fair and cofounding an organization that passed citywide LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination ordinances in North Dakota. Believing “the personal is political '' he has engaged in direct actions and community organizing with Organizing For Action, Can’t Convert Love, Black Lives Matter, Common Defense, and others. As a theatre artist and activist, Jacob traveled across seven states in the Deep South discussing LGBTQ+ rights surrounding the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage and documented the conversations and observations through video and blogging. He also created a multi-media art show examining the LGBTQ+ veteran experience and imperial power & oppression through the Military Industrial Complex and America’s foreign “Forever War.” His own coming out story as a gay kid who grew up in Georgia has been viewed online more than 184,000 times, helping people across the world know they are worthy and loved. For more than 5 years he ran communications strategy and implementation for OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. During that time he led DEI trainings for corporations partnering with OutFront and is certified in Leadership in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell university. He now consults and contracts with multiple community and national organizations advancing civil and human rights and is the Communications Director for Common Defense, the largest organization of grassroots progressive veterans in the nation.