Trustee profile

What does community mean to you when you’re a third-culture student at Messiah? Ask Jessica Thomas ’08. 

“I grew up internationally, moved around a lot and graduated from a school in Dakar, Senegal,” she said. “Having gone to boarding school from sixth grade on, I was used to being away from family.”

However, her sister was attending Messiah and had great stories to tell about the campus.

“It was really great experience. My sister was a senior when I came in. She was part of the reason I had decided on Messiah,” said Thomas. “That first year was pivotal and meaningful to me. To be in a new context with other third-culture kids, we could relate to each other. I was able to build my group of friends and community.” 

After majoring in human development and family science with a minor in business, she completed a master’s in global affairs at New York University. She works as the director of strategic initiatives and as the diversity, equity and inclusion business partner at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.

“I don’t think I really got it consciously, the whole idea of servant leadership and reconciliation until I left Messiah,” she said. “Being in New York, it was a big culture shock. When you interact with people who are very different from you at first glance, the Messiah roots of hospitality and being gracious and civil then enabled me to build relationships with people I’d never had the opportunity to before. In my work and in my volunteering, I know I’ve made an impact on others’ lives, not by what I said but by how I treated people. That gets to the heart of what Jesus is all about.”

She brings those skills as a servant leader as a new member of the Board of Trustees this year.

“When I think of Messiah, I think of President Phipps, and serving alongside her on the board is an honor,” said Thomas. “Many of the things I gained professionally and spiritually, I gained at Messiah. To bring my background and experience in and help other students of color and those from around the world have the education I had, it’s a great starting point to make an impact.”

--Anna Seip