Carole Copeland Thomas
Motivational speaker and business consultant Carole Copeland Thomas was born on August 21, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan. Thomas graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan, and went on to earn her B.A. degree in music, with honors, from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in 1975. Thomas enrolled at Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts, on a Martin Luther King, Jr. academic fellowship, earning her M.B.A. degree in 1985.
Thomas began her career working in sales for Mary Kay Cosmetics, eventually becoming an independent sales director in 1975. Thomas moved to Boston with her then husband and family, working for the Bank of New England and The Gillette Company as an assistant product manager. Thomas founded Temporary Solutions, a temporary employment agency, in 1987. By 1989, the agency had grown into a full service speaking, training, and facilitation company called C. Thomas and Associates, specializing in diversity, multicultural, leadership, and empowerment issues. Thomas served as a town coordinator for Governor Deval Patrick’s 2006 campaign. In 2008, Thomas started The Multicultural Symposium Series (MSS), a face to face, online, and on the air initiative designed to advance the cause of multiculturalism. She hosted the weekly radio talk show “Focus on Empowerment” on Boston’s WILD 1090 AM radio, and subsequently on WBNW 1120 AM and Internet radio, from 2003 to 2009. Thomas has spoken at the Federal Highway Administration, SHRM, Hewlett Packard, Verizon, and Cargill, and Monster.com.
Thomas authored several books, including 21 Ways To Bring Multiculturalism To Your Job Your Home and Your Community and Real Women, Real Issues: Positive Collaborations for Business Success. She also served as the executive coach for the Essence Magazine Leadership Summit. Thomas became a life member of the National Black MBA Association in 1986, serving as president of the Boston Chapter, national vice chair, and a co-founder of the Leaders of Tomorrow program. She served as the Tri State coordinator for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and as the chair of the Multicultural Committee for the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. Thomas also served as an adjunct professor at Bentley University.
Thomas has three children: Lorna, Michelle, and the late Mickarl, as well as two grandchildren, Julianna and Gabrielle.
Carole Copeland Thomas was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 18, 2016.
A2016.104
Female
10/18/2016
11/15/2018
Thomas
Emory University
Northeastern University
Cass Technical High School
Beaubien Middle School
Vandenberg Elementary School
George N. Brady Elementary School
Carole Copeland
Detroit
THO25
Fall
Michigan
Mombasa, Kenya
Those Who Cannot Learn From History Are Doomed To Repeat It.

Massachusetts
8/21/1953
Boston
USA
Shrimp
Motivational speaker and business consultant Carole Copeland Thomas (1953 – ) founded the temporary employment agency Temporary Solutions in 1987, which grew into C. Thomas and Associates, a full service speaking, training, and facilitation company.
C Thomas & Associates
Mary Kay Inc
Gillette
Red
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667307">Tape: 1 Slating of Carole Copeland Thomas' interview</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667308">Tape: 1 Carole Copeland Thomas lists her favorites</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667309">Tape: 1 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her mother's family background, pt. 1</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667310">Tape: 1 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her mother's family background, pt. 2</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667311">Tape: 1 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her mother's family background, pt. 3</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667312">Tape: 1 Carole Copeland Thomas remembers her maternal grandfather</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667313">Tape: 1 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about her mother's upbringing in Detroit, Michigan</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667314">Tape: 1 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her father's family background</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667315">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about her father's education</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667316">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her father experiences as a Tuskegee Airman</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667317">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas describes how her parents met</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667318">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas remembers her parent's careers</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667319">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about her father's relocation to Ghana</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667320">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her parents' personalities and who she takes after</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667321">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about her brother</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667322">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667323">Tape: 2 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667324">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her schooling in Detroit, Michigan</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667325">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her childhood activities</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667326">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas remembers the riots in Detroit, Michigan</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667327">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about the emergence of gangs in Detroit, Michigan</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667328">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas describes the arts program at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667329">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas remembers her friends from Cass Technical High School</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667330">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about her early aspirations</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667331">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her experiences at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667332">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas recalls the prevalence of racial terrorism in Georgia during the 1970s</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667333">Tape: 3 Carole Copeland Thomas remembers Juanita Jones Abernathy</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667334">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her experiences as a saleswoman for Mary Kay Inc.</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667335">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas remembers moving to Norristown, Pennsylvania</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667336">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas remembers her husband's transfer to Boston, Massachusetts</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667337">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas recalls buying a home in Middleton, Massachusetts</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667338">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas recalls her M.B.A. degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667339">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about the community support for her graduate education</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667340">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas describes her experiences at The Gillette Company</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/667341">Tape: 4 Carole Copeland Thomas talks about the benefits of an M.B.A. degree</a>
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